flags T 1 2a 

Book N|_^< 1 








HISTORY 

OP 



NORFOLK COUNTY 

MASSACHUSETTS 

1622-1918 






LOUIS A. COOK 

SUPERVISING EDITOR 



ILLUSTRATED 



VOLUME 1 



NEW YORK — CHICAGO 

THE S. J. CLAKKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1918 



Mi 






CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT SURFACE AND SOIL — 'WATERCOURSES 

GEOLOGY — WORK OF DODGE AND CROSBY — DEVONIAN ROCKS — THE SHAWMUT 
GROUP THE GLACIAL EPOCH I 

CHAPTER II 
EARLY EXPLORATIONS 

EFFECT IN EUROPE OF COLUMBUS' DISCOVERY OF AMERICA THE CABOTS GOSNOLD's 

EXPEDITION PRING AND BROWNE WEYMOUTH'S EXPEDITION LONDON AND 

PLYMOUTH COMPANIES SMITH 's EXPLORATIONS CAPT. THOMAS DERMER 

FRENCH EXPLORATIONS- — CONFLICT OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH INTERESTS 

ENGLISH CLAIMS SUSTAINED 7 

CHAPTER III 
INDIAN HISTORY 

DISTRIBUTION OF INDIAN TRIBES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CEN- 
TURY — NEW ENGLAND TRIBES — THE MASSACHUSETT — NARRAGANSETT — NIP- 
MUCK THE PEQUOT WAR THE WAMPANOAG KING PHILIP'S WAR THE 

PRAYING INDIANS INDIAN DEEDS TO THE LAND 13 

CHAPTER IV 
THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS 

RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN ENGLAND AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVENTEENTH 

CENTURY— THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS IMMIGRATION TO AMERICA GREAT 

PATENT FOR NEW ENGLAND — THE MAYFLOWER THE COMPACT THE WESTON 

COLONY ROBERT GORGES THE DORCHESTER COMPANY THE MASSACHUSETTS 

COMPANY TRANSFER OF THE CHARTER SETTLEMENTS IN 163O 23 

iii 



iv CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V 
PIONEER LIFE AND CUSTOMS 

CONDITIONS NOW AND THEN — THE FIRST HOUSES HEAT AND LIGHT — FURNITURE 

AND UTENSILS — FOOD AND CLOTH ING MISCELLANEOUS FEATURES OF PIONEER 

LIFE 29 

CHAPTER VI 
ORGANIZATION OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

FIRST COUNTIES IN NEW ENGLAND OLD NORFOLK COUNTY — DIVISION OF SUFFOLK — 

THE SECOND PETITION A THIRD EFFORT — THE FOURTH PETITION THE .FIFTH 

PETITION THE SIXTH PETITION A LONG DELAY UNDER THE CONSTITUTION — 

SUCCESS AT LAST LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT 35 

CHAPTER VII 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

THE FIRST COURT-HOUSE — THE SECOND COURT-HOUSE — FATE OF THE OLD COURT- 
HOUSE — COURT-HOUSE OF l86l — THE PRESENT COURT-HOUSE — THE DEDICATION 
— COURT-HOUSE AT QUINCY — THE COUNTY JAIL — THE REGISTRY BUILDING — 
VALUE OF COUNTY BUILDINGS 42 

CHAPTER VIII 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP 

TWO KINDS OF TOWNSHIPS IN THE UNITED STATES — THE DIFFERENCE — THE ANGLO- 
SAXON TUNSCIPE — ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP — PATENTS ISSUED BY THE 

PLYMOUTH COMPANY — FIRST TOWN MEETINGS IN NEW ENGLAND THEIR 

INFLUENCE IN THE REVOLUTION JEFFERSON ON THE TOWNSHIP FORM OF GOV- 
ERNMENT TOWNSHIPS OF THE SOUTH AND WEST COMPARED WITH NEW ENG- 
LAND IN STATE AND NATIONAL AFFAIRS 51 

CHAPTER IX 
THE TOWN OF AVON 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES — PETITION FOR INCORPORATION — IN THE LEGISLA- 
TURE EXTENDING THE BOUNDARIES WATERWORKS TOWN HALL MISCEL- 
LANEOUS FACTS ABOUT AVON 55 



CONTENTS v 

CHAPTER X 
THE TOWN OF BELLINGHAM 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN FIRST SETTLEMENT DIVIDING THE LAND 

INCORPORATION FIRST TOWN MEETING A BOUNDARY DISPUTE TROUBLE WITH 

THE GENERAL COURT A COINCIDENCE — NEW STATE GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO 

FORM A NEW TOWN TOWN HALL WATERWORKS VITAL STATISTICS ODD 

LEGISLATION — THE BELLINGHAM OF TODAY OO 

CHAPTER XI 
THE TOWN OF BRAINTREE 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES SURFACE AND DRAINAGE FIRST WHITE MEN BRAIN- 
TREE INCORPORATED PETITION OF 1645 SAMUEL GORTON NEW BRAINTREE 

THE PRECINCTS THE FIRST MILL TOWN HALL SOLDIERS' MONUMENT 

WATERWORKS — ELECTRIC LIGHT WORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT POSTOFFICES A 

FEW FIRST THINGS BRAINTREE IN I917 TOWN OFFICERS Jl 

CHAPTER XII 
THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT — TOPOGRAPHY — THE HOOKER GRANT — ALLOT- 
MENTS OF LAND — FIRST MOVE FOR SEPARATION FROM BOSTON — INCORPORATION 
OF BROOKLINE — FIRST ELECTION — ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES — TOWN HALL — 
WATERWORKS — FIRE DEPARTMENT — PUNCH BOWL TAVERN — BROOKLINE OF THE 
PRESENT 83 

CHAPTER XIII 
THE TOWN OF CANTON 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND DESCRIPTION — EARLY HISTORY — CANTON INCORPO- 
RATED — THE PETITION AND ITS SIGNERS — FIRST TOWN MEETING TOWN HALL 

WATERWORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT GAS WORKS POSTOFFICE THE DOTY 

TAVERN EARLY ORDINANCES CANTON IN 1917 99 

CHAPTER XIV 
THE TOWN OF COHASSET 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION FIRST WHITE MEN AND SETTLEMENT DIVIDING THE LAND 

— THE HINGHAM REBELLION DISTRICT OF COHASSET — FIRST TOWN MEETING 

TOWN HALL — COHASSET WATER COMPANY — FIRE DEPARTMENT — ELECTRIC 
LIGHT — MISCELLANEOUS IO7 



vi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XV 
THE TOWN OF DEDHAM 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION — SETTLEMENT AND GRANT — THE COVENANT — THE TOWN 

INCORPORATED — NAMING THE TOWN ORIGINAL TERRITORY — A FEW PIONEERS — 

FIRST TOWN OFFICERS — DEDHAM IN 1664 — TRAINING GROUND — EARLY MILLS — 

DEDHAM ISLAND PETUMTUCK OLD-TIME TAVERNS FIRE DEPARTMENT 

DEDHAM WATER COMPANY MEMORIAL HALL THE TOWN SEAL POSTOFFICE 

THE DEDHAM OF THE PRESENT 117 

CHAPTER XVI 
THE TOWN OF DOVER 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES TOPOGRAPHY EARLY SETTLERS POLITICAL HISTORY 

— THE PRECINCT SPRINGFIELD PARISH — THE DISTRICT — THE TOWN — FIRST 

OFFICERS — TOWN HALL — TOWN SEAL — POSTOFFICES FIRE DEPARTMENT — EARLY 

TAVERNS — THE TOWN NAME — SUNDRY INCIDENTS — DOVER IN I917 I34 

CHAPTER XVII 
THE TOWN OF FOXBORO 

FORM OF NAME LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY EARLY HISTORY FIRST 

SETTLERS INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN FIRST TOWN MEETING ADJUSTING 

THE BOUNDARIES TYPICAL PIONEERS TOWN HALL MEMORIAL HALL WATER- 
WORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT TRANSPORTATION FOXBORO IN I917 145 

CHAPTER XVIII 
THE TOWN OF FRANKLIN 

LOCATION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION — THE PRECINCT — SOME POINTED INSTRUC- 
TIONS — THE TOWN INCORPORATED NAMING THE TOWN — FIRST TOWN MEET- 
ING FRANKLIN'S PATRIOTISM FIRST MILLS WATERWORKS FIRE DEPART- 
MENT POSTOFFICE ALMSHOUSE FINANCIAL THE FRANKLIN OF THE 

PRESENT 153 

CHAPTER XIX 
THE TOWN OF HOLBROOK 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION — POLITICAL HISTORY — RANDOLPH OPPOSED TO THE ORGANI- 
ZATION OF A NEW TOWN! — THE ORGANIC ACT EARLY TOWN MEETINGS — TOWN 

HALL — HOW THE TOWN WAS NAMED THE TOWN SEAL — WATERWORKS — FIRE 

DEPARTMENT — SOLDIERS' MONUMENT — HOLBROOK TODAY — TOWN OFFICERS. 163 



CONTENTS vii 

CHAPTER XX 
THE TOWN OF MEDFIELD 

IN THE BEGINNING AS A PART OF DEDHAM NEW TOWN FIRST PROPOSED PETI- 
TION TO GENERAL COURT THE RESULT OTHER TERRITORY SET ASIDE THE 

NAME) — AGREEMENT AND COMMITTEE — FIRST HOUSE LOTS — FURTHER SETTLE- 
MENTS — SURRENDER OF JURISDICTION — INCORPORATION — A DISCREPANCY IN 
DATES — FIRST YEARS OF EXISTENCE! — DIVISION OF THE TOWN — DIVISION OF 

COUNTY POPULATION — POSTOFFICE — THE TOWN HALL — PROMINENT EARLY 

CITIZENS — PUBLIC LIBRARY — PUBLIC UTILITIES — FIRST VITAL STATISTICS — FIRST 
VALUATIONS MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST I7O 

CHAPTER XXI 

THE TOWN OF MEDWAY 

1 

ORIGINAL OWNERSHIP — FIRST GRANT OF LAND THE FIRST ACTUAL SETTLER — THE 

STONE HOUSE FIRST LOTS LAID OUT THE NEW GRANT DIVISION OF LOTS 

MEETING HOUSE STRIFE — INCORPORATION THE NAME — THE ORIGINAL 

FOUNDERS — POPULATION — FIRST TOWN MEETING HIGHWAYS — POSTOFFICES — 

MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENT CEMETERIES ITEMS OF INTEREST 185 

CHAPTER XXII 
THE TOWN OF MILLIS 

LOCATION BOUNDARIES SURFACE AND DRAINAGE FIRST SETTLEMENT DIVISION 

OF MEDWAY THE TOWN NAME TOWN HALL WATERWORKS FIRE DEPART- 
MENT — GENERAL CONDITIONS IN 1917 — TOWN OFFICERS 197 

CHAPTER XXIII 
THE TOWN OF MILTON 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES TOPOGRAPHY WHITE OCCUPATION THE TOWN IN- 
CORPORATED THE TOWN NAME EARLY TAVERNS TOWN HALL POSTOFFICES 

WATERWORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT FINANCIAL HISTORY A FEW FIRST THINGS 

OLD FAMILIES MILTON IN 1917 TOWN OFFICERS 203 

CHAPTER XXIV 
THE TOWN OF NEEDHAM 

ORIGINALLY PART OF DEDHAM LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES SURFACE — INDIAN 

OCCUPATION— FIRST SETTLEMENT PETITION TO BE SET OFF AS A TOWN THE 



viii CONTENTS 

TOWN INCORPORATED — FIRST TOWN MEETING CHANGING THE BOUNDARIES — 

TOWN HALL WATERWORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT ELECTRIC LIGHT POSTOF- 

FICES A HISTORIC MONUMENT TOWN SEAL MODERN NEEDHAM 21T, 

CHAPTER XXV 
THE TOWN OF NORFOLK 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY EARLY HISTORY NORTH PARISH OF 

WRENTHAM INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN FIRST TOWN MEETING— TOWN 

H \ LL POSTOFFICES THE PRESENT NORFOLK 220 

CHAPTER XXVI 
THE TOWN OF NORWOOD 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND SURFACE FIRST SETTLEMENT THE SOUTH PRECINCT 

FIRST PRECINCT MEETING LOCATING THE MEETING HOUSE CHANGING 

THE BOUNDARY — TOWN OF NORWOOD INCORPORATED FIRST TOWN OFFICERS — 

TOWN SEAL PRESENT DAY CONDITIONS TOWN OFFICERS FOR ICH7 225 

CHAPTER XXVII 
THE TOWN OF PLAINVILLE 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION EARLY HISTORY PETITION FOR INCORPORATION THE 

ORGANIC ACT — FIRST TOWN MEETING — DIVISION OF PROPERTY THE TOWN 

SEAL — MISCELLANEOUS — TOWN OFFICERS FOR 1917 233 

CHAPTER XXVIII 
THE CITY OF QUINCY 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION SETTLEMENT — MERRYMOUNT — GOVERNOR ENDICOTT — PART 

OF BRAINTREE — THE TOWN INCORPORATED FIRST TOWN MEETING AN EARLY 

CUSTOM TOWN HALL — QUINCY GRANITE POSTOFFICES CITIZENS GAS COM- 
PANY INCORPORATED AS A CITY WATERWORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT MODERN 

QUINCY — CITY GOVERNMENT 239 

CHAPTER XXIX 
THE TOWN OF RANDOLPH 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION — CIVIC HISTORY — PETITION FOR DIVISION OF BRAINTREE — 
THE REMONSTRANCE — ACT OF INCORPORATION — THE TOWN NAME — FIRST TOWN 
MEETINGS DIVISION OF RANDOLPH TOWN HALL FIRE DEPARTMENT WATER- 
WORKS — RANDOLPH TODAY — ROSTER OF TOWN OFFICERS IN I9I7 250 



CONTENTS ix 

CHAPTER XXX 
THE TOWN OF SHARON 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES — TOPOGRAPHY — EARLY HISTORY — PETITION FOR A PRE- 
CINCT THE ANSWER FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR DISTRICT OF STOUGHTONHAM 

— FIRST DISTRICT OFFICERS THE FIRST CANNON BUNKER HILL THE TOWN 

OF SHARON POSTOFFICES TOWN HALL WATERWORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT 

MODERN SHARON TOWN OFFICERS 257 

CHAPTER XXXI 
THE TOWN OF STOUGHTON 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION — THE NEW GRANT EVOLUTION OF STOUGHTON WILLIAM 

STOUGHTON THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD — A STATE GOVERNMENT STOUGH- 

TON'S RESOLUTIONS ON THE SUBJECT— SALTPETRE WATERWORKS FIRE DEPART- 
MENT TOWN OFFICERS THE PRESENT STOUGHTON 265 

CHAPTER XXXII 
THE TOWN OF WALPOLE 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES EARLY HISTORY INCORPORATION OF WALPOLE OR- 
GANIC ACT THE TOWN NAME THE MEETING HOUSE FRENCH AND INDIAN 

WAR TOWN HALL THE FOUNTAIN WATERWORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT WAL- 
POLE OF THE PRESENT — TOWN OFFICERS 272 

CHAPTER XXXIII 
THE TOWN OF WELLESLEY 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION HISTORICAL INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN NAMING THE 

TOWN FIRST OFFICERS TOWN HALL POSTOFFICES TOWN SEAL WATER- 
WORKS ELECTRIC LIGHT— FIRE DEPARTMENT SEWER SYSTEM PUBLIC BATH 

HOUSE MODERN WELLESLEY TOWN OFFICERS 278 

CHAPTER XXXIV 
THE TOWN OF WESTWOOD 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION EARLY HISTORY THIRD PARISH OF DEDHAM WESTWOOD 

INCORPORATED ACT OF INCORPORATION FIRST TOWN MEETING TOWN HALL 

POSTOFFICES FIRE DEPARTMENT TOWN OFFICERS, I917 WESTWOOD OF TO- 
DAY 285 



x CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XXXV 
THE TOWN OF WEYMOUTH 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES SURFACE AND DRAINAGE SETTLEMENT THE GORGES 

COMPANY THE HULL COMPANY ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES THE INDIAN 

TITLE EARLY LANDOWNERS INDIAN WARS THE SOUTH PRECINCT ATTEMPT 

TO DIVIDE THE TOWN ALMSHOUSES POSTOFFICES SOLDIERS' MONUMENT 

WATERWORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT ELECTRIC LIGHT TOWN HALL FISHERIES 

FINANCIAL HISTORY WEYMOUTH OF THE PRESENT TOWN OFFICERS. . . .289 

CHAPTER XXXVI 
THE TOWN OF WRENTHAM 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION HISTORICAL THE PLANTATION OF WOLLOMONOPOAG IN- 
CORPORATION OF WRENTHAM ORGANIZING THE TOWN— WRENTHAM VACATED 

PERMANENT SETTLEMENT SOME FIRST THINGS THE TOWN DIVIDED WATER- 
WORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT TOWN HALL SOLDIERS' MONUMENT MODERN 

WRENTHAM — TOWN OFFICERS, IG/I7 3OI 

CHAPTER XXXVII 
THE REVOLUTION 

NORFOLK COUNTY NOT IN EXISTENCE AT THE TIME OF THE WAR EARLY CONDI- 
TIONS IN THE COLONIES — -LOYALTY OF THE COLONISTS THE STAMP ACT THE 

PILLAR OF LIBERTY THE BOSTON TEA PARTY THE BOSTON PORT BILL THE 

SUFFOLK RESOLVES WORK OF THE TOWNS BELLINGHAM — BRAINTREE 

HROOKLINE COHASSET DEDHAM MEDFIELD MEDWAY MILTON 

NEEDHAM STOUGHTON WALPOLE WEYMOUTH WRENTHAM 3IO 

CHAPTER XXXVIII 
WAR OF 1812— MEXICAN WAR 

WAR OF l8l2 RIGHT OF SEARCH OTHER CAUSES OF THE WAR NAPOLEON'S 

DECREES BRITISH ORDERS IN COUNCIL WAR DECLARED IN NORFOLK 

COUNTY WAR WITH MEXICO ITS CAUSES ARMY OF OCCUPATION NORFOLK 

COUNTY IN THE WAR 327 

CHAPTER XXXIX 
WAR OF THE REBELLION 

THE SLAVERY QUESTION CONDITIONS IN 1819 — THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE — 

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF i860 SECESSION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES — STAR OF 



CONTENTS xi 

THE WEST FALL OF FORT SUMTER — LINCOLN'S PROCLAMATION CALLING FOR 

TROOPS ANSWER OF MASSACHUSETTS WHAT THE TOWNS DID RECAPITULA- 
TION 333 

CHAPTER XL 

FINANCIAL HISTORY 

county finances receipts and expenditures assets and liabilities 

banking institutions the land bank norfolk county banks 

sketches of banks in the order of their establishment cooperative 

banks — Norwood's morris plan bank 344 

CHAPTER XLI 
MANUFACTURING 

FIRST NEEDS OF THE PIONEERS BOOTS AND SHOES IRON WORKS COTTON AND 

WOOLEN GOODS PAPER AND WOOD PULP STRAW GOODS MISCELLANEOUS MANU- 
FACTURES STATISTICAL TABLE FOR 1915 352 

CHAPTER XLII 
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 

TASK OF THE PIONEERS MOTHER BROOK EARLY HIGHWAYS TURNPIKES STAGE 

LINES THE RAILROAD ERA THE GRANITE RAILWAY — FIRST RAILROAD CHARTERS 

— THE DEDHAM BRANCH OLD COLONY RAILROAD — NORFOLK COUNTY RAILROAD — 

OTHER RAILROADS ELECTRIC RAILWAY LINES FORE RIVER IMPROVEMENT. .362 

CHAPTER XLIII 
THE BENCH AND BAR 

COLONIAL LAWS BODY OF LIBERTIES UNDER THE CONSTITUTION NORFOLK COURT 

OF COMMON PLEAS CIRCUIT COURT OF COMMON PLEAS COURT OF SESSIONS — 

COURT OF PROBATE DISTRICT COURTS DISTRICT JUSTICES THE BAR SKETCHES 

OF EARLY LAWYERS BAR ASSOCIATION 37O 

CHAPTER XLIV 
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION 

o 

MEDICINE AMONG THE ANCIENTS CHINA EGYPT THE HEBREWS INDIA — GREECE 

HARVEY AND SYDENHAM EARLY NORFOLK PHYSICIANS BRIEF SKETCHES OF 

PROMINENT DOCTORS FIRST VACCINATION IN AMERICA THE NINETEENTH CEN- 
TURY MEDICAL SOCIETIES HOMEOPATHY — DOCTOR MORTON 380 



xii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XLV 
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

DEDHAM SCHOOL TABLET — FIRST FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN AMERICA — FIRST SCHOOL 

HOUSE EARLY TEACHERS AMES SCHOOL OTHER EARLY SCHOOLS PUBLIC 

SCHOOL STATISTICS ADAMS ACADEMY BROOKLINE CLASSICAL SCHOOL DEAN 

ACADEMY — WOODWARD INSTITUTE WELLESLEY COLLEGE THAYER ACADEMY 

WEYMOUTH AND BRAINTREE ACADEMY UNION TRAINING SCHOOL — AGRICUL- 
TURAL SCHOOL — MISCELLANEOUS 389 

CHAPTER XLVI 
NORFOLK COUNTY PRESS 

THE COLUMBIAN MINERVA EARLY DEDHAM NEWSPAPERS — QUINCY PATRIOT — THE 

AURORA EARLY NEWSPAPERS OF FOXBORO RANDOLPH STOUGHTON WEY- 
MOUTH BROOKLINE FRANKLIN NEEDHAM WALPOLE BRAINTREE 

MILTON NEWSPAPERS IN I917 LIST ARRANGED BY TOWNS 398 

CHAPTER XLVII 
LIBRARIES AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES 

LAWS RELATING TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES — A FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY IN EVERY TOWN IN 

NORFOLK COUNTY BRIEF HISTORY OF EACH HISTORICAL SOCIETIES AND THEIK 

OBJECT DEDHAM — CANTON — WEYMOUTH MEDFIELD — HOLBROOK — 

FOXBORO — WALPOLE — MEDWAY — MILTON — QUINCY 404 

CHAPTER XL VIII 
CHURCH HISTORY 

CHURCHES ORIGINALLY SUPPORTED BY TAXATION — CONSTITUTION OF l820 — DIFFI- 
CULTY OF WRITING CHURCH HISTORY ARRANGEMENT BY DENOMINATIONS 

THE BAPTISTS — THE CATHOLICS — CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH — BRIEF SKETCHES 
OF THE VARIOUS SOCIETIES 421 

CHAPTER XLIX 
CHURCH HISTORY, CONTINUED 

EPISCOPAL CHURCH — METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH — UNITARIAN CHURCH — THE 
UNIVERSALISTS — MISCELLANEOUS CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS 435 



CONTENTS xiii 

CHAPTER L 
FRATERNAL SOCIETIES, ETC. 

MASONIC FRATERNITY NORFOLK COUNTY MASONRY THE HIGHER DEGREES ORDER 

OF THE EASTERN STAR INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS ODD FELLOW- 
SHIP IN NORFOLK COUNTY — ENCAMPMENTS — DAUGHTERS OF REBEKAH — 

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS — NORFOLK COUNTY KNIGHTS GRAND ARMY OF THE 

REPUBLIC — NORFOLK COUNTY POSTS — WOMEN'S RELIEF CORPS MISCELLANEOUS 

SOCIETIES SOCIAL AND LITERARY CLUBS 447 

CHAPTER LI 
ILLUSTRIOUS SONS 

JOHN ADAMS — JOHN OUINCY ADAMS — JOHN HANCOCK PAUL REVERE — FISHER 

AMES HORACE MANN WILLIAM T. ADAMS ELEAZAR SMITH WILLIAM M. 

THAYER ALBERT D. RICHARDSON HANNAH ADAMS MARY E. WILKINS FREE- 
MAN A LITERARY GROUP 459 

CHAPTER LII 
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY 

LOST TOWNS — DORCHESTER — ROXBURY — WEST ROXBURY — HYDE PARK — QUAKER 

PERSECUTIONS A FEW LANDMARKS THE FAIRBANKS HOUSE THE PEAKE 

HOUSE ADAMS HOUSES THE AVERY OAK INDIAN ROCK DEDHAM POWDER 

HOUSE OTHER LANDMARKS DISTINGUISHED VISITORS LAFAYETTE JACKSON 

— LINCOLN — BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS 467 

CHAPTER LIII 
STATISTICAL REVIEW 

CENSUS REPORTS SINCE 179O — COMPARATIVE TABLE OF POPULATION BY TOWNS FOR 
I9IO AND 191 5 — OFFICIAL ROSTER — LIST OF PRINCIPAL COUNTY OFFICERS FROM 

1793 TO I917 CLERKS SHERIFFS TREASURERS REGISTERS OF DEEDS 

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 476 

CHAPTER LIV 
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY 

FROM OCTOBER 12, I492, TO SEPTEMBER 14, I917 480 



History of Norfolk County 



CHAPTER I 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT SURFACE AND SOIL — 'WATERCOURSES 

GEOLOGY WORK OF DODGE AND CROSBY DEVONIAN ROCKS THE SHAWMUT 

GROUP — THE GLACIAL EPOCH. 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES 

Norfolk County is situated in the eastern part of the state. Two of its towns 
— Brookline and Cohasset — are segregated, the former being entirely surrounded 
by parts of Suffolk County, and the latter by parts of Plymouth County and 
Massachusetts Bay. With these exceptions the county is bounded, generally, on 
the north by the counties of Middlesex and Suffolk and the Massachusetts Bay; 
on the east by Massachusetts Bay and the County of Plymouth ; on the south by 
Plymouth and Bristol counties ; on the southwest by the State of Rhode Island, 
and on the west by the counties of Worcester and Middlesex. The county is 
irregular in shape, straight lines forming the boundaries between Norfolk and 
Plymouth, Bristol and Worcester counties and the State of Rhode Island, while 
the other boundaries are represented by lines that do not follow the points of the 
compass, among them being the curves of the Charles River and the ragged 
coast line of Massachusetts Bay. Its greatest extent — from Cohasset Harbor to 
the southwest corner of the county — is about thirty-six miles, and from the most 
northern point of the Town of Wellesley to the Bristol County line the distance is 
seventeen miles. 

SURFACE AND SOIL 

While much of the surface of Norfolk County is broken and uneven, no por- 
tion of it can be considered mountainous. The most noted elevations are the 
Blue Hills, in the Town of Milton; Great Hill and King Oak Hill, in Weymouth; 
the Brookline Hills ; Wellesley Hills, in the northern part of Wellesley ; Indian 
Rock, in Franklin ; Federal Hill, in Dedham ; and the ridge in the central part 
of Westwood, from which a commanding view of the surrounding country may 
be obtained. As a rule, the soil of hilly countries is not noted for its fertility, 
but much of the soil of Norfolk County is strong, especially the lowlands along 
the Charles and Neponset rivers, and is capable of producing good crops of 
grains and vegetables adapted to this latitude. The following description of the 

Vol. I— 1 

1 



2 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

land along these rivers, as the first settlers found it, is taken from Worthington's 
History of Dedham. 

"The meadows on Neponset River were so far cleared of trees and under- 
wood that they produced grass. The inhabitants of Dedham, in the beginning 
of their settlement, hired those meadows of Israel Stoughton for a pasture for 
their young cattle. A tradition existed at an early period that the grass, called 
"fowl meadow,' which is superior to that of any other kind in the fresh water 
meadows, was first brought to the meadows in Dedham by a large flight of wild 
fowls, and that from thence the meadows and the grass received their names. 

. . It is supposed that the Charles River meadows have gradually arisen 
from a broken, impenetrable swamp, covered with fallen trees, and the greatest 
part of the time covered with water, to their present state. The grass in many 
places has much improved in quality within the present recollection. A coat of 
peat, from three to four feet in depth, covers these meadows and may have been 
principally formed within two hundred years. The deep soil of the upland was 
covered with large trees, principally oak. . . . Wigwam and Purgatory 
swamps were dismal places. They were covered with a thick growth of cedars 
and hemlock. These, with much underwood, rendered these places almost im- 
penetrable. Wigwam Swamp became the resort of wild beasts. It being near 
the village, the wolf howl was heard from it. To break up that den, it was made 
a condition of every grant of land, that the grantee should clear away the wood 
standing on a certain quantity of land in the swamp." 

WATERCOURSES 

The Charles River — "The Winding Charles" — is the principal stream of Nor- 
folk County. It crosses the western boundary near the northwest corner of the 
Town of Bellingham, and from that point follows a general northeasterly course 
until it empties its waters into Massachusetts Bay at Boston. From the northeast 
corner of Bellingham to the Middlesex County line it separates the towns of 
Medway and Millis from Franklin, Norfolk and Medfield ; then for some dis- 
tance it marks the dividing line between Norfolk and Middlesex counties ; then, 
turning eastward, it divides the towns of Wellesley and Needham from Dover 
and Dedham. Near Dedham it makes an abrupt bend toward the northwest and 
forms part of the county boundary. 

The Indians called this stream Quin-o-be-quin, which in the Massachusetts 
tongue means "Winding Water." The manner in which it received the name 
of "Charles River" is thus told in "A Short History of the First Settlement of 
Dedham," published in 1818, the authorship of which has been attributed to Rev. 
William Montague, rector of the Episcopal Church : "Eleven ships left England 
and brought into this then howling wilderness 2,200 emigrants, many of whom 
were of the best families, and even some from the minor branches of the nobility, 
with their governor and lieutenant-governor, and landed in May, 1630, on a 
peninsula, opposite which was another, a river emptying into the head of the 
Massachusetts Bay running between them; which in honor of Charles I they 
called Charles River, and the peninsula on which they landed Charlestown." 

Next in importance is the Neponset River, which is formed by the junction 
of several small streams in the southern part of the county. Like the Charles, 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 3 

its general course is northeast. It forms the boundary between Canton and 
Milton on the east and Norwood, Westwood and Dedham on the west. In its 
lower reaches it marks the dividing line between Norfolk and Suffolk counties. 
Through East Brook and an artificial channel called "Mother Brook," part of the 
waters of the Charles River are drained into the Neponset. A history of Mother 
Brook is given in the chapter on Internal Improvements. 

Weymouth Fore River is formed in the Town of Braintree by the junction 
of the Monatiquot and Cochato rivers. It flows in a northeasterly direction, 
separating the towns of Quincy and Weymouth, and empties into Massachusetts 
Bay. 

Weymouth Back River drains some of the ponds in the Town of Weymouth. 
It forms part of the boundary line between the towns of Weymouth and Hingham 
and falls into the Massachusetts Bay a short distance east of the Weymouth Fore 
River. Its principal tributary is the Old Swamp River. 

In the southern part of the county there are a number of small streams that 
flow in a southerly direction, their waters finally reaching the Narragansett Bay. 
The most important of these watercourses are the Salisbury, Billings and Fur- 
nace brooks and the Peters River. In the southwestern part of the Town of 
Randolph is the summit of the watershed between the Massachusetts and Narra- 
gansett bays, on an elevation about one hundred and thirty-five feet above high 
water mark at Weymouth Landing. 

Tributary to the Charles River are a number of streams, Mill River, Stop 
River, Boggastow, Mine, Noanets and Shepard's brooks being the most im- 
portant. Every part of the county is well watered and along many of the creeks 
and rivers are beautiful springs of clear, cold water. 

GEOLOGY 

Although America is called the New World, geologists believe that it is 
really older than most parts of Europe. Dana divides geologic time into four 
great ages — the Azoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic. These are subdivided 
into nine periods, and these into a number of eras. The oldest known rocks are 
the Huronian, so-called by Sir William Logan, because first noticed by him in 
the vicinity of Lake Huron, though the Huronian limestone, the best example of 
the formation, is the least abundant of the bed rocks of New England. At the 
beginning of the Cambrian period, the oldest of the Paleozoic age, mountain 
masses of granite extended across Massachusetts from northeast to southwest. 
As granite is generally conceded to be one of the oldest of the igneous rocks, 
i. e., rocks whose constituent parts have been crystallized from a highly heated 
condition, Massachusetts was no doubt "dry land" at a time when many parts of 
the Old World were still under water. Neither the Huronian rocks nor granite 
contain fossils, indicating that they formed part of the earth's surface before 
there was. any organic life on this planet. 

Granite is an unstratified rock composed of quartz, feldspar and mica. In 
the Norfolk County granite the feldspar is of the orthoclase variety, a silicate 
of aluminum and potassium, commonly called "potash feldspar." Granite varies 
from coarse crystalline masses, in which the crystals are sometimes an inch or 
more in length, to a fine granular rock called "felsite." It is one of the most 



4 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

abundant and widespread of the igneous rocks. In the United States it is quarried 
chiefly in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Delaware and Georgia. In 1913, 
the last year for which reliable figures are available, the State of Massachusetts 
produced granite valued at $4,096,372. There is also a variety of granite called 
"syenite," in which the mica is replaced by hornblende. It is so named from 
Syene (now Assuan) on the River Nile in Egypt, where it was first discovered. 

Throughout the world, in almost every granite producing section, there are 
found also rocks to which geologists have given the names of amygdaloid, 
diorite and diabase, all of which are to be found in Norfolk County. Amygda- 
loid is an igneous rock containing numerous oval or spherical inclosures, different 
in texture from the body of the rock itself. Lava thrown out by volcanoes is 
one of the best examples of amygdaloid. Diorite and diabase are plutonic rocks 
usually composed mainly of hornblende and a species of feldspar. Amygdaloid, 
diorite and diabase are often included in the general term of "trap rock," heavy, 
compact in structure, and used in macadamizing roads or for railroad ballast. 
Diorite is sometimes called "greenstone." 

In 1875 William O. Crosby began a study of the rocks in the vicinity of 
Boston, including Norfolk County, and the result of his investigations was pub- 
lished by the Boston Society of Natural History in 1880. The granite area he 
describes as consisting of about two hundred square miles in the southern part 
of Norfolk and the northern part of Plymouth County. The best known quarry 
in this field is the one at Ouincy, which was opened in 1825 by Gridley Bryant, 
of Scituate, at the instigation of the Bunker Hill Monument Association. It 
afterward became known as the "Bunker Hill Quarry." Now the value of 
Ouincy granite is well known all over the United States, and some of it has 
been shipped to other countries. 

In the towns of Dover and Medfield Mr. Crosby found small patches of 
Paleozoic rocks "exhibiting local transitions toward granite and diorite." These 
rocks, greenish or grayish in hue. compact in texture and very hard, are a species 
of felsite which Mr. Crosby classified as petrosilex. Farther southeast he noted 
a larger area, extending into what is now the Town of Westwood, in which 
the rock was more perfectly crystallized. In this field is the quarry from which 
was taken the stone for the Norfolk County court-house, St. Paul's Episcopal 
Church and the Memorial Hall at Dedham. 

Mr. Crosby also found a considerable area of this petrosilex in the central 
and southern parts of the Town of Needham, where the color was gray or 
greenish white, with numerous small crystals or grains of transparent quartz, 
giving the stone the appearance of porphyry. In the northern part of Needham 
he noticed a reddish brown, compact stone resembling quartz in its texture. 
Only a few outcrops of this stone were observed in Needham, but just south 
of the Boston & Albany Railroad, near the village of Wellesley, the deposits 
were larger and the character of the rocks better defined. Similar deposits were 
seen in the Blue Hill region in the Town of Milton. 

Upon the elevation known as "Rattlesnake Hill," in the southeastern part of 
the Town of Sharon, and on Moose Hill in the western part of the same town, 
the rocks are chiefly of syenite. In the eastern part, near the Randolph Town 
line, there are some beds of granite of excellent quality that have been quarried 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 5 

to some extent. In early days a considerable quantity of bog iron ore was mined 
in this town. 

DEVONIAN ROCKS 

The Devonian rocks of the Paleozoic age rest upon the Silurian formations 
and are among the oldest of the fossil bearing rocks. Mr. Crosby, in speaking 
of the rocks of this period, says they ''occur only in limited basins or depres- 
sions excavated in the ancient crystalline formations." One of these basins, 
which he calls the ' , Narragansett," extends from Newport, Rhode Island, 
through Bristol and Plymouth counties in Massachusetts. Near the line between 
the two states this basin divides, a narrow branch of it running northeast into 
the Town of Braintree, where it terminates in a bed of Paradoxides, a stone 
resembling the Upper Cambrian formation, from which it can be best distin- 
guished by the large fossils of the trilobite variety. 

Some years before Mr. Crosby made his study of the rocks about Boston, 
W. W. Dodge, of the Boston Society of Natural History, made a geologic 
reconnaissance in the eastern part of Norfolk County. He noticed the Para- 
doxides bed above mentioned, particularly the slate deposits connected with it. 
Says he: "The slate along the Monatiquot River in Braintree is like that of the 
Paradoxides bed and similarly related to granite, and these two areas are con- 
tinuous under the bed of the Weymouth Fore River. On the west side of that 
river, at the first bend north of Weymouth Landing, the slate is greenish gray 
or brown, tinged with purple. West of the railroad the slate is exposed imme- 
diately north of the granite, and is almost identical with that along the Monati- 
quot River and at Hayward's Creek. The slate at Mill Cove is continuous across 
the Weymouth Back River with that in the northern part of Hingham." 

Mr. Crosby mentions what he calls an "island of slate" in the Blue Hill 
granite deposits in the Town of Milton, near the boundary between Milton and 
Quincy. The slate formation extends to the Randolph turnpike, where it ends 
in several ledges of a gray argillaceous rock, similar to the Paradoxides bed 
in Braintree, but containing more iron pyrites. Just how these slate beds became 
intermingled with the Devonian rocks furnishes food for theory and specula- 
tion on the part of the geologists. 

The bed rocks in the Town of Weymouth are very old, ranging from the 
Cambrian to the Devonian periods of the Paleozoic age. The rocks underlying 
a large portion of the town are closely allied to the granite beds in Quincy, 
though less perfectly crystallized and broken here and there by wide seams of 
amygdaloid and the slate formations referred to above. Some of the veins of 
slate here are rich in iron pyrites and contain fine crystals of quartz. 

THE SHAWMUT GROUP 

According to Crosby, the principal constituents of what he calls the Shawmut 
Group are breccia and amygdaloid. The breccia of this group is a conglomerate 
composed of angular fragments of the older rocks. Mr. Crosby noticed out- 
crops of this group in Dedham and Milton, the breccia appearing on the west 
side of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, and the amygdaloid 



6 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

on the east side. He also observed outcrops along the road east and west of 
Charles River Village in the Town of Needham. 

In the Town of Brookline the Shawmut amygdaloid resembles felsite, though 
it is not so hard and contains more or less quartz and crystals of feldspar. 
Some geologists have given this stone the name of "graywacke," commonly 
called "plum-pudding stone," on account of the numerous oval or rounded 
nodules of some other mineral found in it. Both the breccia and the amygdaloid 
of the Shawmut Group belong to the trap rock species. The Shawmut basin 
extends irregularly from the Blue Hill region on the south to the porphyry hills 
in the vicinity of Lynn and Maiden on the north. 

THE GLACIAL EPOCH 

About the close of the Tertiary period of Cenozoic time came the Pleistocene 
or "Ice Age," when practically all of British North America, New England, the 
Central States as far west as the Missouri Valley and south to the vicinity of 
St. Louis, Missouri, were covered by a vast mass of ice called a glacier. This 
sheet of ice was formed by successive falls of snow, each adding its weight to the 
mass until the whole was compressed into a solid body. How long ago the Ice 
Age began, or how long the great ice sheet remained upon the surface of the 
country, can only be conjectured. Then came a geologic change. The tempera- 
ture rose, the glacier began to melt and the huge body of ice moved slowly south- 
ward, carrying with it soil, rocks, etc., and depositing them in the form of 
"glacial drift" upon the bed rocks of more southern latitudes. The hard sub- 
stances that gradually settled to the bottom of the glacier left scratches, called 
"striae," upon the bed rocks, and from these geologists have been able to determine 
with tolerable accuracy the course taken by the glacier. 

Many of the bed rocks of Norfolk County are striated, thus bearing evidence 
that they were once beneath the great glacier. This is especially true of the 
Town of Weymouth, where the exposed ledges show the striae plainly; and along 
the Weymouth Back River the sharp linear hills, called "horsebacks" or "kames," 
mark the terminal moraine or ridge where the last of the ice melted. The debris 
carried by the glacier was deposited upon the bed rocks in the form of drift, as 
above stated. The constant grinding reduced many of the rocks to a fine 
powder, and these disintegrated rocks form the soil of a large part of the New 
England States. Many of the ponds and lakes are of glacial origin, the water 
from the melting ice settling into the depressions in the drift. 



CHAPTER II 
EARLY EXPLORATIONS 

EFFECT IN EUROPE OF COLUMBUS' DISCOVERY OF AMERICA THE CABOTS — GOSNOLD'S 

EXPEDITION— PRING AND BROWNE WEYMOUTH'S EXPEDITION LONDON AND 

PLYMOUTH COMPANIES SMITH'S EXPLORATIONS CAPT. THOMAS DERMER 

FRENCH EXPLORATIONS CONFLICT OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH INTERESTS 

ENGLISH CLAIMS SUSTAINED. 

October 12, 1492, marked the beginning of an epoch in the world's history, 
for on that day Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. Previous to 
that time the Atlantic Ocean had been a bugbear to sailors, but when the news 
of Columbus' successful voyage was carried to the courts of Europe, monarchs 
were seized with a desire to send expeditions to the new continent. Although to 
Spain was conceded the honor of leading the way, it was not long until other 
nations were .competing with Spain for the profits of her discovery. 

THE CABOTS 

Henry VII, then King of England, was not noted for his liberal policies, but 
he was sagacious enough to see that some advantage might be gained for his 
country, and showed a willingness to encourage explorations — provided the 
royal treasury was not called upon to bear the expense. To that end, on March, 
5, 1496, he granted to John Cabot and his three sons — Lewis, Sancius and Sebas- 
tian — a commission authorizing them "to sail to all parts, countries and seas of the 
East, of the West and of the North, under our banners and ensigns, with five 
ships of what burden or quantity soever they be, and as many mariners or men as 
they will have with them in the said ships, upon their own proper costs and 
charges, to seek out, discover and find whatsoever isles, countries, regions or 
provinces of the heathen and the infidels whatsoever they be which before this 
time have been unknown to all Christians." 

The patent also gave the Cabots power to set up the royal banner of England 
in every "village, town, castle, isle or mainland by them newly found, and to 
subdue, occupy and possess the same as vassals of the English crown." For 
this service the Cabots were given the exclusive privilege of trading with the 
natives of the country or countries they might discover and claim in the name of 
the crown. This privilege was granted to them, their successors or assigns, 
without limit or condition, further than that upon their return to England they 
were required to land at the port of Bristol and pay one-fifth of the profit of 
their enterprise to the King. 

About the middle of May, 1497, John Cabot and his son Sebastian set sail 



8 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

from Bristol in a vessel called the "Matthew" and on June 24th they lande'a 
either upon the Island of Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island, at the mouth of 
the St. Lawrence River. They returned to England and on February 3, 1498, 
the King issued to them a new patent, which is said to have been "less ample 
than the first and worded more cautiously," though it granted the patentees six 
English ships and the exclusive right to trade with the people of the lands they 
might visit on their voyages. 

John Cabot died soon after the second patent was granted, but Sebastian, 
with a fleet of five vessels, sailed from Bristol in May, 1498, on his second 
voyage. At that time the extent of the lands discovered by Columbus was not 
known, and it was believed that somewhere there was a passage by water to the 
"South Sea," as the Pacific Ocean was then called. To find this passage was one 
of the objects of Sebastian Cabot, and it is asserted by some writers that in his 
voyage of 1498 he passed into Hudson's Bay. He then examined the coast as 
far southward as the thirty-eighth parallel of north latitude and is credited with 
being the first explorer to discover the mainland of North America. Upon the 
voyages and discoveries of the Cabots England laid claim to a large part of 
North America. 

Nearly a century later (1583) came Sir Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gil- 
bert and his half brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, and some others, but their explo- 
rations have no bearing upon New England history. Colonization did not follow 
upon the heels of the explorer and a century after Cabots' first voyage "in all 
New England and the vast tract north towards the pole, not a white family was 
settled, not a white child had been born." 

gosnold's expedition 

Early in the spring of 1602, a company of thirty-two men, under the com- 
mand of Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, sailed from Falmouth, England, in a small 
vessel called the "Concord." The expedition was fitted out under the direction 
of the Earl of Southampton, who bore the greater share of the expense. On 
May 14, 1602, the expedition came in sight of land about 43 30' north latitude, 
somewhere on the coast of New Hampshire or Maine. Turning southward, 
they followed the coast until the afternoon of the 15th, when they discovered "a 
mighty headland, which, from the great number of cod fish caught in the vicin- 
ity, was named Cape Cod." Here they landed and were no doubt the first white 
men to set foot upon the soil of Massachusetts. The next day Gosnold made 
another landing, at what later became known as "Sandy Point," in the extreme 
southern part of Barnstable County. During the next two weeks he explored 
the coast, naming Martha's Vineyard, Dover Cliff, Gosnold's Hope (now Buz- 
zard's Bay), the Elizabeth Islands and some other places. 

On the 28th he fixed upon a site for his plantation, "near a small lake of 
fresh water, about two miles in circumference," on the Island of Cuttyhunk, at 
the entrance to Buzzard's Bay. It was arranged for eleven of the men to remain 
with him upon the plantation, the Concord to return to England under command 
of Captain Gilbert. Three weeks were spent in building a fort and storehouse, 
and in lading the vessel with sassafras, "a goodly quantity of which grew near 
by." During this time several excursions were made to the mainland's "fertile 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 9 

meadows, stately groves, pleasant brooks and beauteous rivers." By the time 
the fort and storehouse were completed it was noticed that the stock of pro- 
visions was running low and the project of establishing a plantation was aban- 
doned. All went on board and on July 23, 1602, the Concord dropped anchor in 
the harbor of Exmouth, England. 

PRING AND BROWNE 

Gosnold's description of the country stimulated interest in the new continent 
and encouraged further explorations. The Virginia patent, granted to Sir 
Walter Raleigh in 1585, included the present State of Massachusetts, but Richard 
Hakluyt, an earnest advocate of colonizing the New World, and Robert Aids- 
worth obtained permission from Raleigh to send a vessel to that part of the coast 
that had been visited by Gosnold. They enlisted the cooperation of the mayor, 
aldermen and a number of the wealthy merchants of Bristol, and raised by sub- 
scription a fund of one thousand pounds to defray the expenses of an expedition. 
On April 10, 1603, two vessels — the "Speedwell" of fifty tons and the "Dis- 
coverer" of twenty-six — left Bristol. The former had a crew of thirty men and 
was commanded by Martin Pring, and the latter, with a crew of thirteen men, 
was commanded by Capt. William Browne. The two ships were provisioned for 
eight months and carried a large stock of cloth, hatchets, trinkets, etc., for the 
Indian trade. 

The expedition struck the coast near the entrance to Penobscot Bay, and then 
cruised southward to the Vineyard Islands. There the Discoverer was laden 
with sassafras, which was then considered a panacea for "all the ills that flesh is 
heir to," and returned to England in July, leaving Pring with the Speedwell to 
make further explorations. In August the Indians in the vicinity began to show 
signs of hostility and Pring also returned to England, arriving at Bristol early in 
the year 1604. 

weymouth's expedition 

To follow up the discoveries of Cabot, Gosnold and Pring, the Earl of South- 
hampton and his brother-in-law. Lord Arundel, fitted out a vessel called the 
"Archangel" with a crew of twenty-eight men and placed Capt. George Wey- 
mouth in command. The Archangel left the port of Dartmouth on the last day 
of March, 1605, ostensibly to discover the long sought "Northwest Passage," but 
really to strengthen England's claim to the territory about Massachusetts Bay. 
About the middle of May Weymouth reached the shore near Cape Cod. From 
that point he proceeded northward, ascended the Kennebec River some distance 
and traded with the natives. 

Captain Weymouth did one thing that was a stroke of bad policy, to say the 
least. He lured five Indians on board the Archangel and then set sail for Eng- 
land. The Indian captives were sold into bondage. This act engendered a feel- 
ing of hatred and distrust among the natives that grew as colonies were estab- 
lished in New England, until the Indians sought vengeance in the Pequot and 
King Philip wars. 



10 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

LONDON AND PLYMOUTH COMPANIES 

Sir Walter Raleigh's failure to colonize Virginia within the time specified 
caused his patent to revert to the crown. Early in the Seventeenth Century 
applications were made by two companies for grants of land for plantations on 
the Atlantic coast, between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north 
latitude. Patents were issued to those companies on April 10. 1606, the southern 
grant to the London Company, called the "First Colony," and the northern to 
the Plymouth Company, or the "Second Colony." The London Company was 
authorized to establish a plantation at any point below 41° north latitude, and 
the Plymouth Company to open a plantation any where above 38 °, though it was 
stipulated that the second plantation should be located not less than one hundred 
miles from the first. 

The patent of the Plymouth Company was granted to "Thomas Hanham, 
Raleigh Gilbert (a nephew of Sir Walter Raleigh), William Parker, George 
Popham, and their associates, knights, gentlemen and merchants, or Exeter, 
Plymouth and other towns of the West of England." On the last day of May, 
1607, this company started two ships — the "Gift of God" and the "Mary and 
John" — with about one hundred men, under Raleigh Gilbert and George Popham, 
to open a plantation. They failed to establish a permanent colony and it seems 
that no second effort was made under the patent of 1606. 

smith's explorations 

Capt. John Smith, who had been an active factor in the establishment of the 
London Company's colony at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, sailed from London 
early in March, 1614, with two vessels and forty-nine men to look for mines of 
gold or copper along the coast of New England. In the event he failed to find 
the mines, it was his intention to trade with the natives and carry back to Eng- 
land cargoes of fish and furs. He explored the coast from the mouth of the 
Penobscot (Kennebec) River to Cape Cod, crossed from Cape Ann to Cohasset, 
and some writers claim that he entered Boston Bay and to some extent explored 
its coast line. He prepared a map of the coast, upon which Quincy and Wey- 
mouth bays are shown with a fair degree of accuracy. 

That Smith was an enthusiast regarding the beauties and possible advantages 
of the Massachusetts coast, may be seen from his report of the voyage, in which 
he says: "We saw forty several habitations (that is places where habitations 
might be successfully established) along the coast, sounded about twenty-five 
excellent harbours, in many whereof there is anchorage 'for 500 sails of ships of 
any burden, in some of them 1,000, and more than two hundred isles, overgrown 
with good timber of divers sorts of woods. * * * Of all the four parts of 
the world that I have yet seen, not inhabited, could I but have the means to 
transport a colony, I would rather live here than anywhere. And if it did not 
maintain itself, were we but once indifferently well fitted, let us starve." 

Associated with Smith on this expedition was an Englishman named Thomas 
Hunt, who carried about twenty Indians into slavery— an act that was inexcu- 
sable and whirl) bore fruit in after years. Mather says it "was the unhappy 
occasion of the loss of many a man's estate and life, which the barbarians did 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 11 

from thence seek to destroy; and the English, in consequence of this treachery, 
were constrained for a time to suspend their trade and abandon their project of 
a settlement in New England." 

CAPT. THOMAS DERMER 

Smith's voyage seems to have been a prosperous one, from a pecuniary point 
of view, and this created in his mind an earnest desire to make a second visit to 
the New World. His own capital being insufficient to outfit an expedition, he 
imparted his views to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, " a man of kindred enthusiasm," 
and to Doctor Sutcliffe, Dean of Exeter, who agreed to assist him. After some 
delay two ships — one of 200 and the other of 50 tons burthen — were furnished 
him for a second voyage. Before going two hundred leagues, the larger vessel, 
which was commanded by Captain Smith, sprang a leak and was forced to return, 
but the smaller, commanded by Capt. Thomas Dermer, kept on, returning to 
England after an absence of about five months. 

Captain Dermer made another voyage in 1619, and this time carried back to 
America the Indian Tisquantum (or Squanto), who had been carried into cap- 
tivity by Hunt five years before. This Squanto afterward became the firm friend 
and interpreter of the Pilgrims. Bradford (History of Massachusetts, p. 14) 
thinks it probable that on this second voyage Dermer visited the harbors of 
Boston and Plymouth. While the primary object of these voyages was the 
acquisition of wealth, Captain Dermer was instructed to find a place in which to 
establish a colony "for the propagation of the gospel among the ignorant and 
debased aboriginal inhabitants." 

Barry, in his History of Massachusetts, says: "This journey of 1619, as pre- 
ceding by a year the settlement of Plymouth, and as taken in the territory so 
often alluded to by the Pilgrims, is exceedingly interesting. It was an impor- 
tant addition to the knowledge of the country and prepared the way, by its 
friendly termination, for the hospitable reception by the generous Massasoit and 
his brother Quadequina." 

In the fall of 1619 Captain Dermer sailed southward and passed the winter 
with the colony of the London Company at Jamestown. The following spring 
he returned to Cape Cod, where he encountered a party of hostile Indians and 
received several severe wounds, of which he afterward died. 

FRENCH EXPLORATIONS 

Before the middle of the Sixteenth Century, France had laid claim to the 
valley of the St. Lawrence River and the country about the Great Lakes, basing 
her claim upon the expeditions of Jacques Cartier in the early part of that 
century. In 1603 Henry the Great, then King of France, gave a patent to one 
of his friends named De Monts, covering the Atlantic coast from the fortieth to 
the forty-sixth parallels of north latitude. De Monts led an expedition to America 
and it is said he entered what is now Boston Harbor, in search of a place to plant 
a colony, but was discouraged by the hostile attitude of the Indians he found in 
that locality. He then explored the coast to the northward and finally located 
his settlement at Monts' desert (now Mount Desert), on the coast of Maine. 



12 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

The greater portion of the grant made by King Henry to De Monts was 
included three years later in the grant made by the English crown to the 
Plymouth Company. This was the beginning of a conflict of French and English 
claims to territory in America — a conflict which was intensified when La Salle, 
in 1682, discovered the mouth of the Mississippi River and laid claim to all the 
territory drained by that stream and its tributaries, and which finally culminated 
in the French and Indian war. 

Following the usage of nations to claim territory "by right of discovery," 
England had the oldest tenure to a large part of the continent of North America, 
On account of the discoveries made by the Cabots in the closing years of the 
Fifteenth Century. Subsequent expeditions sent out from England strengthened 
the claim, which the other nations of Europe ultimately recognized, and in time 
English settlements were planted along the coast from Maine to Georgia. 



CHAPTER III 
INDIAN HISTORY 

DISTRIBUTION OF INDIAN TRIBES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CEN- 
TURY NEW ENGLAND TRIBES THE MASSACHUSETT NARRAGANSETT NIP- 
MUCK THE PEQUOT WAR THE WAMPANOAG KING PHILIP'S WAR THE 

PRAYING INDIANS INDIAN DEEDS TO THE LAND. 

Note — Indian names are spelled in various ways, every writer on the subject 
adopting the form best suited to his ideas. In this chapter the form used is that 
sanctioned by the United States Government and employed in the reports of the 
Bureau of Ethnology. 

NAME AND DISTRIBUTION 

When the first European explorers came to America they found here a race 
of copper-colored people. Believing that Columbus had opened the way to the 
eastern coast of Asia, and that the country was India, they gave these people 
the name of "Indians." Their error regarding the geography of the earth has 
long since been corrected, but the name they conferred upon the natives still 
remains. 

At the close of the Fifteenth Century, when the first explorations were made 
along the Atlantic Coast, this race was divided into groups or families, each of 
which was distinguished by certain physical and linguistic characteristics. The 
groups were subdivided into tribes, each of which was ruled by a chief. New 
England was in the territory occupied by the Algonquian family, the most nu- 
merous and powerful of all the groups, and numbered almost as many tribes as 
all the others combined. The Algonquian country may be described as a great 
triangle, roughly bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and by lines drawn 
from the most northern point of Newfoundland and Cape Hatteras to the west- 
ern end of Lake Superior. The tribes with which the early settlers of the 
Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies came chiefly in contact, and which 
figured most conspicuously in New England history, were the, Massachusett, 
Narragansett, Nipmuck, Pequot and Wampanoag, all of Algonquian origin. 

THE MASSACHUSETT 

According to J. Hammond Trumbull, of the American Antiquarian Society, 
the name Massachusett is derived from three Indian words, "Massa" (great), 
"wadchu" (hill or mountain), and "eset" (place). The Indians bearing this name 
were known as "The people of the great hill," the eastern slope of the Blue Hills, 

13 



14 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

in what is now the Town of Milton, having been "the cradle, the home and the 
grave of the race." They claimed the country along the Atlantic Coast from 
Plymouth to Salem and, according to their traditions, at the beginning of the 
Seventeenth Century they were a powerful tribe, numbering about three thou- 
sand warriors, under the great sachem, Nanepashemet. 

Capt. John Smith, in his account of his voyage in 1614, describes the Massa- 
chusett Indians as "tall and strong-limbed people, very kind, but in their fury 
no less valiant ; possessors of large cornfields and dwelling in plantations which 
covered the islands in the bay." At that time they had about twenty villages, 
eleven of which Smith mentioned by name in his report. Among them were 
Conohasset, Neponset, Wessagusset, and Passonagessit, all names familiar to 
the student of Norfolk County history. 

In 161 5, the year following Smith's voyage, Nanepashemet made war upon 
the Tarratine or Penobscot Indians and the tribe suffered heavy losses through 
repeated defeats. This war lasted about four years, or until 1619, when Nan- 
epashemet was killed at his village near what is now the Town of Medford by 
a war party of the Tarratine. He was the last great sachem of the Massachusett. 
While the war with the Tarratine was going on, a number of the Massachu- 
sett villages were depopulated in 1616-17 by a pestilence, which some writers 
state was nothing more or less than an epidemic of smallpox, but that is not 
certain. 

When the first white men came to Plymouth and Wessagusset, they found 
a remnant of the tribe living about Passonagessit ( now Mount Wollaston ) under 
the chief Chickatabot (House Afire). North of the Neponset River was another 
band under the sachem Obbatinewat, and south of the Monatiquot, in what is 
new the Town of Weymouth, dwelt a few under the chief Aberdecest. Prof. A. 
F. Chamberlain, of Clark University, in the Handbook of the United States 
Bureau of Ethnology, says that in 1621 Chickatabot, who was then the ruling 
sachem of the tribe, submitted to English authority and entered into a treaty 
of peace which was kept sacredly as long as he lived. Ten years later he vis- 
ited Governor Winthrop at Boston, "behaving like an Englishman." The tribe 
then numbered, about five hundred, all that was left of what had but a few years 
before been one of the most powerful Indian tribes in New England. Chickatabot 
was a man of note and influence among his people and a firm friend of the white 
man. He died of smallpox in 1633. A few years after his death most of the 
surviving members of his band joined the "Praying Indians," as the converts 
of the misionary John Eliot were called, and lived with them in the villages of 
Natick, Nonantum and Ponkapog. 

THE NARRAGANSETT 

The Narragansett (People of the small point) lived west of the Narragansett 
Bay, in what is now the State of Rhode Island, and extending northwest to the 
country occupied by the Nipmuck. They had a number of deities, such as the 
sun, moon, water, fire, and certain animals, and celebrated numerous feasts. As 
they did not live in Massachusetts, the early settlers of Norfolk County did not 
come in close touch with them except at rare intervals. They joined the Wam- 
panoag in the conflict known as King Philip's war, and in the swamp fight near 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 15 

Kingston, Rhode Island, December 19, 1675, lost nearly one thousand men in 
killed, wounded and prisoners. After this war the members of the tribe became 
exiles among the other tribes in the vicinity. 

THE NIPMUCK 

The name Nipmuck, or Nipamaug, means "Fresh water fishing place," and 
was applied to these Indians on account of the location of their habitat, which 
was in the southern part of what is now Worcester County, Massachusetts. Some 
ethnologists have classified them as one of the Massachusett subtribes, but James 
Mooney, of the United States Bureau of Ethnology, says: "Their villages had 
no apparent political connection, and the different parts of their territory were 
subject to their more powerful neighbors, the Massachusett, Wampanoag, Nar- 
ragansett and Mohegan." 

From this it would appear that, even if they had at some time been related 
to the Massachusett Indians, they afterward became an independent tribe, though 
small in numbers. In 1674 the missionaries had seven villages in the Nipmuck 
country and felt encouraged over the progress the Indians were making toward 
Christianity and civilization. But the next year nearly all the able-bodied Nip- 
muck braves joined the hostile tribes in King Philip's war. After the war those 
who had taken part against the whites fled to Canada or New York. 

THE PEQUOT 

In the native language of this tribe they were called the Paquatong, which 
meant "Destroyers," a name that well describes their character and warlike dis- 
position. Before they were conquered by the English in 1637, they were the 
most quarrelsome and dreaded of all the southern New England tribes. Tradi- 
tion says they were originally one people with the Mohegan, from whom they 
separated and came to the country of the Niantic, where they drove out the 
natives and took possession. At one time the Pequot tribe numbered over three 
thousand, but war and pestilence had done their work, so that when the first 
white men came to Rhode Island the tribe did not count more than half that 
number. 

Their principal sachem at the time the first English settlements were made 
in New England, and for several years thereafter, was named Sassacus. Nearly 
every schoolboy has heard the story of how this Sassacus sent to the Plymouth 
colony a bundle of arrows wrapped in a snake skin ; how Squanto, or Tisquantum, 
the friendly Indian, explained that this was equivalent to a declaration of war; 
and how Capt. Miles Standish filled the snake skin with gunpowder and bullets 
and sent it back to the Pequot sachem. 

THE PEQUOT WAR 

This answer to the challenge, as bold as it was unexpected, had the tendency 
to dampen the warlike ardor of Sassacus for a time. But the vindictive nature 
of the Pequot could not long be restrained. In 1636 some members of the tribe 
killed a trader who they thought had not treated them right, and early the next 



16 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

year they began committing depredations upon the infant settlements of Rhode 
Island and Connecticut. The white settlers of New England made common cause 
against the Pequot. Roger Williams enlisted the cooperation of the Mohegan 
chief Uncas, with seventy of his warriors; Capt. John Mason of Hartford raised 
a force of ninety men ; Captain Patrick of Plymouth recruited a company of 
forty volunteers in that colony ; and Captain Underhill took twenty men from the 
Massachusetts Bay settlements, about one-half of whom went from Norfolk 
County. 

These combined forces marched against the Pequot fort on the Mystic River, 
which was defended by practically all the fighting men of the tribe. The fort 
was surrounded and set on fire and about six hundred Indians perished in the 
flames or were shot down while trying to escape. A number of captives were 
taken, some of whom were sold into slavery in the West Indies, small parties of 
those who escaped joined other tribes and the name of the Pequot became extinct. 
Says Barber, in his "Historical Collections of Massachusetts": "This first war 
with the Indians struck such terror into the surrounding tribes, that for forty 
years afterwards they never openly commenced hostilities with the English." 

THE WAMPANOAG 

During the greater part of the Seventeenth Century this was one of the lead- 
ing tribes of New England. Their habitat was along the eastern shore of Nar- 
ragansett Bay, the name Wampanoag meaning "People of the east." From the 
Narragansett Bay they claimed the territory northward to the country occupied 
by the Massachusett confederacy. The Nauset Indians, a subtribe of the Wam- 
panoag, were found on Cape Cod in 1602 by Gosnold, who traded with them, 
but a few years later the French explorer Champlain found them inclined to be 
unfriendly. 

Massasoit, the principal sachem of the Wampanoag, was the first Indian chief- 
tain to enter into a treaty of peace with the early colonists, which treaty he kept 
in good faith as long as he lived. He lived in a village called Pokanoket, a name 
which has sometimes been incorrectly applied to the Indians of this tribe. Massa- 
soit had two sons — Wamsutta and Metacom — and on the occasion of one of his 
visits to the white men, he requested that his sons be given English names. The 
result was that Wamsutta was called Alexander, and Metacom took the name 
of Philip. 

king philip's war 

Upon the death of Massasoit, about 1659 or 1660, Alexander became sachem 
of the Wampanoag. He lived but a short time and in 1662 the scepter passed to 
the younger son, who is known in history as King Philip, or Philip of Pokanoket, 
and who has been called "the most remarkable of all the Indians of New England." 

Philip was quite unlike his father. He was cunning, ambitious, and filled 
with an unalterable hatred of the white people, who he believed were robbing 
the Indians of their hunting grounds. Soon after becoming sachem, he renewed 
the treaty of peace made by his father some fifty years before, but about 1670 
the settlers reached the conclusion that he was engaged in some work of treachery. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 17 

So grave did this suspicion become that in 1673 some of the towns of Norfolk 
County were ordered by the General Court to place themselves in a state of 
defense. 

In Dedham a barrel of gunpowder and other ammunition were procured; 
the small cannon which had been given to the town by the General Court in 1650 
was mounted on wheels ; a garrison was organized, a watch set, and the meet- 
ing house was designated as a depository for supplies in case of an attack or 
siege. Through these preparations Dedham was spared the fate of some of her 
sister towns three years later. Similar preparations were made in a few of the 
other towns, and they likewise escaped an Indian attack. 

All doubts as to Philip's bad faith and hostile intentions were removed in 
the winter of 1674-75, when John Sausamun, a Praying Indian, informed the 
governor of the Plymouth colony that the wily sachem was engaged in an effort 
to unite all the Indian tribes in a general uprising against the whites, hoping 
thereby to exterminate them or drive them back across the sea, and thus regain 
full possession of their hunting grounds. Not long after this Sausamun's body 
was found under the ice in Assawomset Pond, near Middleboro, in the western 
part of what is now Plymouth County. 

Three Indians were arrested, charged with the murder, and one of them 
confessed that they had been incited to the act by Philip. The three were hanged 
at Plymouth on June 8, 1675. The hanging of these men told Philip that his 
conspiracy was fully known to the hated palefaces, and he hastened forward 
his movements. He was then living at Mount Hope, Rhode Island, and from 
there sent out the order to his warriors to be ready to move against the white 
settlements. The Indians had a superstition that the party which struck the first 
blow in a fray would be vanquished in the end, and the plan was to provoke the 
settlers to an assault by killing their cattle while they were attending church on 
Sunday. The first hostile demonstration was made against the Town of Swan- 
zey, Bristol County, at the head of Narragansett Bay, on Sunday, June 24, 1675. 
Nine men were killed and several wounded before the white people had time 
to organize for resistance. Brookfield, Worcester County, was the next point 
of attack, and every house in the town but one was burned. Before the close 
of the summer Hadley, Deerfield and Northfield in the Connecticut Valley were 
attacked, a number of white people killed and many buildings burned. 

In the fall the commissioners of the United Colonies called for one thousand 
men to suppress the insurrection and appointed Governor Winslow of Massa- 
chusetts commander-in-chief. Massachusetts furnished six companies of infantry 
and a troop of horse, under command of Major Appleton ; five companies under 
Major Treat came from Connecticut; and Major Bradford recruited two com- 
panies in Plymouth. 

Mention has already been made of the overwhelming defeat of the Narra- 
gansett Indians in the winter of 1675-76. Among the chiefs of that tribe was 
Pumoham (commonly written Pumham), sachem of Shaomet, "one of the stout- 
est and most valiant sachems that belonged to the Narragansett." Some years 
prior to the breaking out of the war he had quarreled with Miantonomo, chief 
sachem of the tribe, to whom he was subordinate, and placed himself under the 
colonial government for protection. Upon the death of Miantonomo, his son 
Canonchet became the chief sachem, Pumoham returned to his allegiance and 



18 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the two chieftains joined Philip in 1675 with about one thousand Narragansett 
warriors. Next to Philip, Pumoham "was the most dreaded of the Indian leaders." 

It was against the Narragansett Indians that the expedition raised in the 
fall of 1675 was sent - Pumoham and Canonchet, when they learned that a large 
force was marching against them, took up a strong position in a swamp in the 
northern part of Rhode Island and awaited its approach. After a toilsome march 
over rough roads, in severe winter weather, the white men surrounded the 
swamp and the assault was made on December 19, 1675. What followed is thus 
told by John Davis in the "New England Memorial." 

"The attack on the enemy's fort was completely successful. It was a counter- 
part to the memorable exploit against the Pequots, forty years before, by the 
men of Connecticut. A day of horrible conflagration and slaughter inflicted a 
blow, from which the Narragansett nation never recovered. Seven hundred of 
their fighting men fell in the action, and it was computed that at least three 
hundred more died of their wounds and from the hardships which ensued. Such 
are the numbers given by Hubbard in his Narrative, derived from the confession 
of Potock, one of the Indian chiefs, afterward taken at Rhode Island and put 
to death in Boston. It was a dear-bought victory to the assailants. Five brave 
captains were slain in the action : Davenport of Boston, son of Capt. Richard 
Davenport, distinguished in the Pequot war, Johnson of Roxbury, Gardner of 
Salem, Gallop of New London, and Marshall of Windsor. Captain Seeley of 
Stratford was mortally wounded and lived but a few days. The whole loss 
sustained by the assailants was eighty-five killed and about one hundred and fifty 
wounded. Among the wounded were Major Bradford and Captain Church, of 
Plymouth Colony, and Lieutenant Upham of Massachusetts. The latter died 
of his wounds some months later." 

Up to this time the war had not seriously affected Norfolk County. Her 
trials were yet to come. On February 12, 1676, a party of Indians made a sudden 
descent upon the Town of Weymouth and burned several houses. Hurd's 
History of Norfolk County gives the date of this attack on Weymouth as Feb- 
ruary 12, 1675, but all the histories of the war consulted by the writer, except 
one, agree that the hostilities began with the attack on Swanzey, June 24, 1675, 
more than four months after the date mentioned by Hurd. The exception is the 
account given by Niles, who fixes each of the events connected with the war 
one year earlier than their actual occurrence. It is possible that this may 
account for the statement made by Hurd. 

Early in February, 1676, the main body of the Indians assembled at Wachu- 
sett Mountain, in the Town of Princeton, Worcester County. Here they divided, 
one party moving northward toward Concord and Haverhill, and the other 
against Lancaster, Marlboro and Medfield. The latter was commanded by the 
chief called Monaco. Lancaster was burned and pillaged on the 10th, and late 
on the 20th the citizens of Medfield observed signs of the enemy's approach. A 
strong watch was set during the night, but the Indians, under cover of darkness, 
managed to elude the pickets and the next morning found a considerable number 
of them secreted in the outbuildings and even under some of the dwelling houses. 
As soon as the watch was removed, these skulkers came forth from their hiding 
places and applied the torch. Altogether about fifty buildings were consumed. 
The records of the town contain the names of seventeen residents who were 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 19 

killed and a number received dangerous wounds, from the effects of which a few 
afterward died. 

In anticipation of an attack, the minister, Mr. Wilson, had sent a letter to the 
governor and the council asking for soldiers to defend the town. About a 
hundred men were sent there, but they were distributed around at the houses 
of the citizens and could not assemble in time to drive off the enemy until the 
damage was done. The cannon was fired, hoping that the reports could be 
heard at Dedham and bring reinforcements. The Indians ■were afraid of 
artillery, and at the first discharge retreated across the river, setting fire to the 
bridge as they departed. Then across the river, in full view of the burning town, 
they indulged in a grand feast. The number of savages engaged in this nefarious 
work was estimated at five hundred. 

Shortly after the destruction of Medfield, Indians were seen prowling about 
in the woods near Wrentham and the General Court, "in consideration that 
many Indians were skulking about our plantations, doing much mischief and 
damage," offered a bounty of' three pounds per head "to every person who should 
surprise, slay, or bring in prisoner any such Indians." In March, 1676, the in- 
habitants of Wrentham left their homes and went to Dedham for protection, 
remaining there until the spring of 1677. 

In April, 1676, John Jacobs was killed by the Indians while working in his 
field in the'Town of Cohasset, then a part of Hingham, and four or five dwelling 
houses were burned. On the 19th of the same month Thomas Pratt was killed 
at Weymouth. These outrages were the work of a small marauding party and 
not that of the main body of Philip's army. It was probably the same party 
that went into Braintree, where they killed three men and a woman. The ac- 
count of this raid says they carried the woman "about six or seven miles, and then 
killed her and hung her up in an unseemly and barbarous manner by the wayside 
leading from Braintree to Bridgewater." 

Pumoham, who had managed to escape at the time of the "Swamp Fight" 
in December, 1675, gathered a handful of warriors and commenced preying upon 
the unguarded settlements. About the middle of July, 1676, it was learned that 
this predatory band was in Dedham woods, waiting for such time as they could 
catch the people unawares to commit further depredations. Captain Hunting 
quietly organized a small company of Dedham and Medfield men, with a few 
friendly Indians, and went in pursuit. Thirty-five of the Indians were captured 
without resistance, but Pumoham refused to surrender. After being fatally 
wounded he seriously injured one of Hunting's men with his tomahawk, and 
Barber says "he was slain raging like a wild beast." Fifteen Indians were killed 
in this action, which took place on July 25, 1676. 

Sometime in the summer of 1676, the exact date is uncertain, a man named 
Rocket, while looking for a stray horse, came upon an Indian trail near the 
present line between Franklin and Wrentham. Suspecting that it was the trail of 
a war party, he followed it with great caution until almost sunset, when he dis- 
covered the Indians preparing to go into camp at the foot of a rocky eminence 
near the Mill River. He hurried back to the settlements and reported what he 
had seen. A company of thirteen men was collected and, under command of 
Capt. Robert Ware, was guided to the encampment by Mr. Rocket. Captain 
Ware stationed his men in the thickets about the camp, with instructions not 



20 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

to fire until it was light enough to aim with certainty. About sunrise the Indians 
arose and began their preparations for resuming their march. Instantly thirteen 
muskets were discharged and as many savages fell killed or wounded. The 
sudden and unexpected attack threw the others into consternation and they sought 
safety in flight. They were pursued and several of them killed. The rock where 
this encounter took place is still known as "Indian Rock." 

From the time of the first attack on Swanzey to August I, 1676, fifty-two 
towns were attacked and twelve of them almost or quite totally destroyed. Then, 
seeing that the colonists were thoroughly aroused, Philip retired to a wild tract 
of country, known as the Pocasset Cedar Swamp, in the northern part of Rhode 
Island. Capt. Benjamin Church of Plymouth, with a force of white men and 
friendly Indians, made the last march of the war and reached the swamp on 
the afternoon of August 12, 1676. In drawing a cordon about the swamp the 
men were placed in pairs — a white man and an Indian together. It was dark 
before Captain Church could perfect his arrangements, and a night attack was 
made upon Philip's swamp fortress. Many of the Indians fell at the first volley 
and others were killed while trying to escape. Philip made a bold dash for liberty 
and succeeded in getting through the first line, when he encountered one of the 
pairs mentioned. The white man's gun missed fire, when the Indian fired and 
the bullet sped true to its mark. Thus ended the career of Philip of Pokanoket, 
whose war of fourteen months cost the colonies six hundred brave men, the 
destruction of a dozen towns, several hundred dwellings scattered through the 
rural districts, and about half a million dollars in money. Philip's wife and son 
were captured and sold into slavery. The defeat of the Indians was complete, 
and never again did any of the tribes make open war upon the New England 
colonies. 

THE PRAYING INDIANS 

In October, 1646, John Eliot, the ''Indian Apostle," preached his first sermon 
to the natives at what afterward became known as Newton Corner. The Indian 
village that subsequently grew up there was called Nonantum, or "Place of re- 
joicing." In 1650 Mr. Eliot founded the village of Natick, where the "Praying 
Indians," as his converts were called, were given a reservation of six thousand 
acres. A few years later Natick had a population of over two hundred, and until 
the time of King Philip's war, it was probably the most important Indian village 
in New England. In 1663 there were fourteen praying villages. 

Mr. Eliot translated the Bible and some other works into the Indian language, 
established schools among the children of the forest, and taught them many of 
the customs of the white man's civilization. After his death the Praying Indians 
gradually decreased in numbers. Some of them took part in the French and 
Indian war and at its close the population of Natick was only thirty-seven. 

INDIAN DEEDS 

It was the policy of the Massachusetts colony, in granting tracts of land to 
companies of persons for the purpose of founding towns, to make such grants 
subject to the Indian title. The Council of New England advised the grantees 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 21 

to purchase the title of any Indians who might claim rights of inheritance to 
any of the lands included in the grant, thereby maintaining friendly relations 
with the natives and refuting all charges of confiscating their hunting grounds. 
The first purchase of Norfolk County land was made soon after the Town of 
Dedham was incorporated (possibly before the act of incorporation was passed), 
from the sachems who claimed the country west of the Neponset River and 
south and east of the Charles River. The tract included the present Town of 
Dedham and some of the adjacent towns, though it does not appear that any 
deed or treaty relating to this purchase was ever made a matter of record. The 
Indian title to Medfield and some of the adjacent territory was purchased of 
Chickatabot. 

Says Worthington : "In 1660 two agents are appointed to treat with the saga- 
mores who owned Wollomonopoag, now Wrentham. In 1662 Richard Ellis and 
Timothy Dwight, the agents appointed for that purpose, made a report that they 
had made a treaty with Philip the sagamore, for lands six miles square, or as 
much as six miles square, at Wollomonopoag, and exhibited his deed thereof, 
under hand and seal. Six days after this report is made, the town ratify the 
treaty and assess their common rights to the amount of twenty-four pounds ten 
shillings, for the purpose of paying King Philip the stipulated price for his deed." 

In the fall of 1669 Philip notified the Dedham authorities that he still owned 
certain lands in the vicinity of Wollomonopoag, and offered to sell them to the 
white people. The Dedham selectmen appointed a commission of five persons, 
at the "head of which was Timothy Dwight, to treat with him for the lands, 
"provided he can show that he has any rights to the same, and provided he will 
secure the town against future claims of other sachems." It is extremely doubt- 
ful whether Philip really had any more right to the lands in that section of the 
county than any other Indian. But his experience of nine years before taught 
him that the white inhabitants were willing to pay, and, realizing that it was 
only a question of time when they would come into possession at any rate, he 
took advantage of the situation to get as much money as he could. On November 
15, 1669, the town ordered an assessment of seventeen pounds eight shillings 
to pay for this second purchase of Philip. 

In the meantime, July 4, 1665, the Indians Wampatuck, Ahahden and Squmuck, 
sons of Chickatabot, deeded certain lands in what are now the towns of Cohasset 
and Hingham to Capt. Joshua Hubbard and Ensign John Thaxter, for the white 
inhabitants, thus confirming the act of their father in permitting the white people 
to occupy the land, though it is not certain that Chickatabot sold the land outright. 

On August 5, 1665, Wampatuck, alias Josias, sagamore of Massachusetts, 
son of Chickatabot, with the consent of his wise men, viz. : "Squamog, his brother 
Daniel, old Nahatun, William Mananiomott, Job Nassott, Manuntago and William 
Nahatun," sold to the white settlers "all of the east of the lands within the bounds 
of Braintrey . . . being bounded on the sea side with the northeast, and 
with the Dorchester line on the northwest, and by the Waymouth line on the 
southeast and with the Dorchester line on the southwest." 

The white men who negotiated this purchase were Samuel Basse, Thomas 
Faxon, Francis Eliot, William Needham, William Savill, Henry Neale, Richard 
Thayer and Christopher Webb. The consideration was twenty-one pounds and 



22 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

ten shillings. For many years this deed, properly framed, hung in the town 
house of old Braintree. 

On April 14, 1680, a deed was executed by William Nahaton, alias Ouaanan, 
and his brothers Peter Natoogus and Benjamin Nahaton, and their sisters Tah- 
keesuisk Nahaton and Hannah Nahaton, alias Jammewwosh, "living in Punka- 
pogg, near Blue Hill in the bounds of Dorchester, to any lands lying in the Town 
of Dedham." This deed especially describes a "parcel or tract of land as it lieth 
towards the northerly side of Dedham, by the Great Falls of the Charles River, 
to the Natick saw mill brook," etc., to which land the Indians relinquished ''all 
right, title and whole interest." This purchase was brought about by Timothy 
Dwight, Richard Ellice and Thomas Battelle, commissioners appointed to nego- 
tiate the treaty and receive the title to the land. 

John Magus, a minor sachem living at Natick Village, and his wife, Sara 
Magus, executed a deed on April 18, 1681, to Daniel Fisher, Thomas Fuller, 
Richard Ellice and Nathaniel Bullard, commissioners appointed by the Dedham 
authorities, embracing "the whole parcel or tract of land as it lieth in Dedham 
bounds," etc. The tract thus conveyed was known as Magus Hill and included 
the present towns of Natick and Needham and that part of Dedham known as 
Dedham Island. The consideration was five pounds in money and Indian corn 
to the value of three pounds. 

The territory now included in the Town of Brookline was first obtained of 
Chickatabot in 1630. On March 19, 1685, his grandson, Charles Josias, alias 
Josias Wampatuck, and his councilors, by and with the advice and consent of his 
guardians, William Stoughton and Joseph Dudley, made a deed to Elisha Cooke, 
Elisha Hutchinson, Samuel Shrimpton, John Joyliffe, Simon Lynde, John Saffin, 
Edward Wyllys, Daniel Turel, Sr., Henry Allen, John Faireweather, Timothy 
Prout, Sr., and Theophilus Ffrary, "in behalf of the rest of the Proprietated 
Inhabitants of the Town of Boston and Precincts thereof," confirming the act of 
his grandfather fifty-five years before. The consideration mentioned in the deed 
was a "Valuable Summe of Money," payment of which is acknowledged. 

On April 18, 1685, this same "Josias, alias Josias Wampatuck, son and heir 
of the late sachem of the Indians inhabiting the Massachusetts, in New England, 
and grandson of Chickatabot, the former grand sachem," made a deed confirming 
the sale of land included in the town of Dedham by his grandfather fifty years 
before. The deed was approved by William Stoughton and Joseph Dudley, 
guardians for Josias, who received four pounds and ten shillings as a considera- 
tion. Some of these ancient deeds are now in the collections of the Dedham 
Historical Society. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS 

RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN ENGLAND AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVENTEENTH 

CENTURY THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS IMMIGRATION TO AMERICA GREAT 

PATENT FOR NEW ENGLAND THE MAYFLOWER THE COMPACT THE WESTON 

COLONY ROBERT GORGES THE DORCHESTER COMPANY THE MASSACHUSETTS 

COMPANY TRANSFER OF THE CHARTER SETTLEMENTS IN 163O. 

Upon the death of Queen Elizabeth, James I ascended the English throne. 
At that time there were four religious organizations in existence in England. 
First, the Church of England, which had the sanction and support of the British 
Government and its King; Second, the Separatists (later known as the Pilgrims), 
who refused to affiliate in any way with the Church of England, or to acknowl- 
edge the authority of the state church ; Third, the Puritans, or Nonconformists, 
who differed from the Anglican Church only in their disregard of certain ritual- 
istic rites and observances ; and Fourth, the Roman Catholics, who in some parts 
of the country formed the prevailing religious power. The religious situation 
in England at the close of the Sixteenth Century wielded an important influence 
upon the early settlement of North America. 

Twice before becoming king — in 1581 and again in 1590 — James I had 
openly professed a sincere belief in the teachings of John Knox and the Puri- 
tans. On April 3, 1603, when about to leave Scotland for his coronation, he 
gave thanks publicly in the kirk, declaring that "As God has promoted me to 
greater power, it is my duty to establish religion and take away corruption in 
both England and Scotland." This public and apparently fearless public utterance 
gave great encouragement to the Puritans. But they soon learned that James 
was not sincere. In his address to Parliament in 1604, he pronounced the Puritans 
to be "a sect insufferable in a well governed commonwealth." Three-fourths 
of the members of the House of Commons sympathized with the Puritans, and 
they were not slow in showing by their actions that the insolence of the king 
had awakened the indignation of the Nonconformists. The attitude of the House 
of Commons led James to say in a letter written about this time: "I would 
rather live like a hermit than be a king over such a people as the pack of Puritans 
are that overrule the lower house." His motto seemed to be "No bishop, no 
king." In July, 1604, he issued a proclamation in which he declared that he wanted 
only "one doctrine, one discipline, one religion, in substance and in ceremony," 
and ordered "all curates and lecturers to conform strictly to the rubrics of the 
prayer book, on pain of deprivation." 

Not long after this proclamation was promulgated, James confidently asserted 
that he would make all dissenters conform to the ceremonies of the Church of 

23 



24 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

England, or he would harry them out of the country. And that was exactly 
what happened. Large numbers of the Separatists refused to conform and left 
their native land to find refuge in Holland. It was at this time that they took the 
name of Pilgrims. For several years a congregation of the Pilgrims was located 
at Leyden, under the pastoral guidance of Rev. John Robinson, who has been 
spoken of as "the most learned, polished and modest spirit that ever separated 
from the Church of England." 

IMMIGRATION TO AMERICA 

In February, 1619, the Pilgrims in Holland sent agents to England to obtain 
a patent to land in America. After considerable delay a patent was issued in the 
name of John Wincob. The original document has been lost and, so far as 
known, there are no copies in existence. It is believed that it covered certain terri- 
tory that now lies within the State of New York. As soon as the patent had been 
obtained, the Pilgrims began making their preparations for emigrating, but more 
than a year elapsed before the first company was ready. The delay in completing 
their preparations caused radical changes in their original plans for planting a 
colony in the New World. Another agency in altering their plans was the 

GREAT PATENT FOR NEW ENGLAND 

On luly 23, 1620, Sir Thomas Coventry was ordered to prepare a new patent 
for the Plymouth Company for the king's royal signature. The result was the 
"Great Patent for New England," signed by King James and conveying to forty 
of his subjects "all that part of North America extending from the fortieth to 
the forty-eigth degree of north latitude, and between these parallels from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific." 

The company of forty, which included some of the most wealthy and power- 
ful of England's nobility, was known as "The Council established at Plymouth, 
in the County of Devon, for the Planting, Ruling, Ordering and Governing New 
England in America." The Great Patent did not pass the seals until Novem- 
ber 3, 1620. 

THE MAYFLOWER 

While the Great Patent was pending, those of the Pilgrims who had decided 
to try their fortunes in America made everything ready for their departure. 
The "Speedwell" of 60 tons was chartered in Holland, and the "Mayflower" of 
180 tons was chartered in England for the voyage. The two vessels started on 
August 13, 1620, but the Speedwell sprang a leak and was forced to put in at 
Dartmouth for repairs, the Mayflower waiting until her sister ship could be put 
in condition. After a few days another start was made, but again the Speedwell 
began to leak and the two ships put in at Plymouth, where on August 21st the 
Speedwell was condemned as unseaworthy. On September 6, 1620, the May- 
flower, with 1 01 persons on board, left Plymouth and on November 9th the 
immigrants sighted the cliffs of Cape Cod. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 25 

THE COMPACT 

Before effecting a landing and choosing a site for their settlement, the men 
on board assembled in the cabin of the Mayflower and drew up the following 
agreement or compact : 

"In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under written, the loyal 
subjects of our dread sovereign, King James, by the Grace of God, of Great 
Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c, having undertaken, for 
the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith, and the honor of 
our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern 
parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence 
of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together unto a civil 
body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the 
ends aforesaid ; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such 
just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, 
as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony ; 
unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. 

"In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names, at Cape Cod, 
the nth of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King 
James, of England, France and Ireland, the 18th, and of Scotland the 54th, 
A. D. 1620." 

This compact was signed by every man on board and for ten years it was 
the only constitution or organic law of the Plymouth colony. On the day that 
it was signed a party of fifteen men, well armed, was set ashore at Long Point 
to explore the coast and select a location for the proposed plantation. This was 
followed by several similar exploring parties until December n, 1620, when they 
landed at Plymouth. A fort and storehouse were built and land was allotted 
to the several families. The white man had at last gained a permanent footing in 
New England. 

THE WESTON COLONY 

In July, 1622, Thomas Weston, a merchant of London, sent out two ships — 
the "Charity" of 100 tons and the "Swan" of 30 tons, with fifty or sixty men, 
to establish a colony. The following month the ships arrived at Plymouth, where 
a majority of the men lived at the expense of the Pilgrims while the Swan went 
along the coast to seek a suitable location for a settlement. The men were not of 
a type to win the confidence and respect of the Pilgrims. A few of them were 
honest, but most of them were "rude and profane fellows," and none was fitted 
by training or experience to develop a new country. 

After a few weeks the Swan returned to Plymouth and reported in favor of 
a place called Wessagusset (also written Wessaguscus), about twenty-five miles 
north of Plymouth, in what is now the Town of Weymouth, Norfolk County. 
In October, after buildings had been erected for the use of those who remained 
as colonists, the Charity returned to England, leaving a supply of provisions 
sufficient to last the colony through the winter. But they were without a com- 
petent leader, inexperienced in the work of building up a settlement in a wilder- 
ness, with' no settled habits of industry, and the supply of provisions was soon 



26 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

exhausted, after which they applied to their neighbors at Plymouth for assistance. 
Finding the people of Plymouth almost as destitute as they were themselves, 
they proposed to the Pilgrims to furnish the Swan to visit some of the Indian 
villages along the coast and procure a supply of corn. Governor Bradford, with 
a few men and the friendly Indian, Squanto, took the vessel and went to a place 
called Monamoycke (now Chatham), where he obtained eight hogsheads of corn 
and some beans. 

Past experience had taught the men of Wessagusset nothing, it seems, for 
they soon wasted their share of the corn and beans. Some of them worked for 
the Indians to get food, some stole from the natives, and a few actually died of 
starvation. In their idleness they incurred the displeasure of Wituwamat, a 
minor chief of the Massachusett Indians, who threatened to destroy the colony. 
They appealed to the Pilgrims for protection and Miles Standish — the only man 
in New England with previous military experience — was sent on March 23, 1623, 
with a few men, to settle the difficulty. The Indians also flocked to Wessagusset 
and for a little while trouble seemed imminent. Inviting Wituwamat, Pecksuot 
and two other Indian leaders into a room, ostensibly for a parley, the door was 
closed upon a signal from Standish and the Indians were assaulted. Three of 
them were killed in the room and the other one was taken out and hanged. The 
death of their leaders demoralized the Indians, who fled, and Standish returned to 
Plymouth. A few of Weston's men went with him and the others went on board 
the Swan and sailed away. 

ROBERT GORGES 

In December, 1622, Robert Gorges received from the Plymouth Council a 
grant of land in Massachusetts, with "all shores and coasts for ten English miles 
in a straight line toward the northeast." In other words, his grant lay north of 
the Pilgrims' colony and extended along the coast for ten miles. Robert was 
the youngest son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and soon after receiving the above 
mentioned grant he was appointed lieutenant-general of the country. 

In the latter part of August, or early in September, 1623, Robert Gorges, 
accompanied by Rev. William Morrell and a number of colonists, some of whom 
brought their families, arrived in Massachusetts Bay. After selecting his ten 
miles of coast line, to which his grant gave him title, he established his colony 
at Wessagusset, where Weston had attempted to plant a settlement the year 
before. This was the second permanent colony to be established in Massachu- 
setts. It was located within the present limits of Norfolk County, and a more 
detailed history of it is given in the chapter on the Town of Weymouth. 

THE DORCHESTER COMPANY 

Early in 1623 a patent was obtained by Robert Cushman and Edward Wins- 
low, "for themselves and associates," to a tract of land on Cape Ann where a 
fishing station was established. A little later the Dorchester Company was 
organized and a plantation opened, which for the first year was under the man- 
agement of John Tilly and Thomas Gardner. They were succeeded by Robert 
Conant, who in 1626 removed the plantation to Naumkeag (now Salem), hoping 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 27 

"that in following times it might prove a receptacle for such as, upon account 
of religious views, would be willing to begin a foreign plantation in this part 
of the world." 

After the removal of the colony to Naumkeag, the Dorchester Company was 
dissolved, and Rev. John White, who has been called "the father of the colony 
at Cape Ann," undertook to get a new patent to lands bordering upon Massachu- 
setts Bay. In the meantime King James had died and was succeeded in March, 
1625, by his son, Charles I, who followed his royal father in political and re- 
ligious matters. Through Mr. White's influence, a number of London merchants 
subscribed for stock in the enterprise, and, when a sufficient amount of stock 
had been subscribed to make a good showing, application was made for a patent. 

THE MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY 

On March 19, 1628, a patent was granted to Sir Henry Rosewell, Sir John 
Young, Thomas Southcote, John Humphrey, John Endicott and Simon Whet- 
comb as the Massachusetts Company, embracing "that part of New England 
lying between three miles to the north of the Merrimac and three miles to the 
south of the Charles River, and of every part thereof in the Massachusetts Bay; 
and in the length between the described breadth, from the Atlantic Ocean to the 
South Sea." 

One of the first acts of the new company was to select John Endicott, "a 
Puritan of the sternest mould," to conduct a party of emigrants to the Conant 
settlement at Naumkeag "to carry on the plantation of the Dorchester agents 
and to make way for the settlement of another colony in the Massachusetts." 
Endicott and his family, with about forty or fifty colonists, embarked at Wey- 
mouth, England, on the good ship "Abigail" in the latter part of June, 1628, and 
on the 6th of September arrived safely at Naumkeag. 

In May, 1629, they sent three ships — the "Talbot," 300 tons, Capt. Thomas 
Beecher; the "George Bonaventure," 300 tons, Capt. Thomas Coxe ; and the 
"Lion's Whelp," 120 tons, master not known, with about two hundred planters 
to join the colony under Endicott. They arrived at Naumkeag late in June, 
bringing the news that they were soon to be followed by three other ships bring- 
ing additional colonists. John Endicott was elected governor, and a council of 
thirteen, of which the governor was one, was chosen to control the affairs of 
the colony. In June, 1629, a second colony was established under the auspices 
of the Massachusetts Company at Charlestown. 

TRANSFER OF THE CHARTER 

Up to this time the company and the colony had been separate, the former in 
England making rules and regulations for the latter in America. Among the 
Puritans was a deep-seated idea that those who left England and came to Amer- 
ica should be given the privilege to establish such government as they desired — 
"to form a new state, as fully to all intents and purposes, as if they had been 
in a state of nature and were making their first entrance into cizilized society." 

They therefore sought to have the charter transferred to America and finally 
succeeded, the transfer being made on August 28, 1629. Prior to the transfer, 



28 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Matthew Cradock had been governor of the company and John Endicott of the 
colony. By the transfer of the charter the company and the colony were blended 
under one governor. John Winthrop was the "first governor chosen by the 
freemen of the colony within its limits under the charter after its transfer." 

• 

AT THE CLOSE OF 163O 

During the year 1630 seventeen ships, carrying about fifteen hundred persons, 
arrived from the mother country. By the close of that year, just a decade after 
the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, at least a dozen settlements had been estab- 
lished in Massachusetts, to wit: Plymouth, Wessagusset (now Weymouth), 
Watertown, Mount Wollaston, Mattapan (now Dorchester), Salem, Lynn, New 
Town (now Cambridge), Charlestown, Noddle's Island (now East Boston), 
Roxbury and Shawmut (now Boston). Some of these settlements were situated 
within the present borders of Norfolk County, and their history is given in con- 
nection with that of the town in which they are located. 



CHAPTER V 
PIONEER LIFE AND CUSTOMS 

CONDITIONS NOW AND THEN — THE FIRST HOUSES — HEAT AND LIGHT — FURNITURE 
AND UTENSILS — FOOD AND CLOTHING — MISCELLANEOUS FEATURES OF PIONEER 

LIFE. 

In these early years of the Twentieth Century the citizen of Norfolk is in the 
full enjoyment of the fruits of modern invention and progress. If he desires 
to visit another part of the county he can step into his automobile and glide 
along over an improved highway almost with the speed of the wind. Should he 
not be the fortunate possessor of an automobile, the network of electric railways 
is at his service, and for a trifling sum the trolley car will carry him to Boston 
or any of the suburban towns. In the event a longer journey is contemplated, 
he can take a seat in a railway coach, palatial in its appointments, and be whirled 
across the continent behind a powerful steam locomotive, eating his meals and 
sleeping comfortably at night on the train. He enters his house after dark, turns 
a switch, and the whole place is flooded with electric light. The telephone 
enables him to converse with his friends or transact his business without leaving 
his office or his residence. He turns a faucet and receives a supply of pure, whole- 
some water in any quantity desired. A boy brings the daily newspaper to his 
door. His children attend school in a stately edifice, heated by steam during the 
winter seasons and equipped with all the modern apparatus for imparting in- 
struction. On Sunday he worships in a church with cushioned pews and car- 
peted floor, and listens to the jubilant tones of a pipe organ that in many instances 
cost thousands of dollars. 

But does he ever pause to think of the slow and tedious process by which all 
these comforts were developed for him to enjoy? The Puritan forefathers, 
when they first came to this region, found none of these things. Instead they 
found a wilderness, inhabited only by wild beasts and savage Indians — the 
primeval forest untouched by the ax, the soil unbroken by the plowshare. Into 
this wild and desolate country they came as exiles, with little capital besides 
their industry and determination, and began the work of building up a community 
whose foundations should be laid deep and secure in the principles of everlasting 
justice. 

THE FIRST HOUSES 

The first problem that confronted the pioneers was to provide shelter for 
themselves and their families. The first dwellings were log cabins, such as the 
settlers themselves could construct without the aid of the trained carpenter, 

29 



30 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

bricklayer or plasterer. The roofs of these cabins were covered with thatch, 
and in many instances the only floor was "mother earth." In some of the better 
cabins there was a floor of puncheons — that is, slabs of timber split as nearly 
the same thickness as possible, the upper surface being smoothed with an adz 
after the floor was laid. 

A little later came the frame house. Saw mills were not introduced for 
several years and the first boards were made with the whip-saw. A "saw-pit" 
was excavated somewhere in a convenient hillside, the log to be sawed into 
boards was usually hewn on two sides, so that it would rest firmly upon the 
timbers over the pit, and on the upper hewn surface lines were struck to show the 
thickness of the boards required. The whip-saw was operated by two men — one 
standing on the top of the log to guide the saw by the lines, and the other below 
in the pit to pull the saw downward. It was a slow method of making lumber, 
but many of the first houses in the county were constructed of boards thus 
manufactured. Another improvement that came with the frame house was the 
shingle roof. The first shingles were rived or cloven with an implement called 
a frow, and then shaved thin at the upper end with a draw-knife. Nails and 
glass were the most difficult materials to obtain and in some of the houses light 
was admitted through oiled paper or a piece of white muslin stretched over a 
framework of light sticks. Brick or stone foundations were rare. The house 
was usually set on posts or piles and in the fall of the year earth was banked 
up around it to form an "underpinning" to keep out the cold. Sometimes the 
upper story of a house would project beyond the walls of the first story. This 
gave rise to the theory that they were so constructed that the settler might fire 
down upon Indians trying to break in at the door, but this is hardly true, when 
one considers that houses of that type had been constructed in England for years 
before the Puritans came to America. 

HEAT AND LIGHT 

In the first cabins «n opening was left at one end for the great fireplace, 
capable of taking in logs or sticks of wood four or five feet long. The chimney 
was built outside the cabin. It was generally of stone, though, where stone was 
not convenient, it was sometimes built of sticks and plastered with clay to keep 
it from catching fire. When people began to build frame houses, the chimney 
was placed in the partition wall, in order that there might be a fireplace in each 
of the two principal rooms on the lower floor. In front of the fireplace was a 
hearth of stone or baked clay (bricks were used later), and upon this hearth, 
extending well back into the fireplace, was a pair of great andirons to support 
the blazing logs. Some of these andirons were "curiously wrought and highly 
ornamental." Here and there a pair has been preserved by some historical society 
or collector of curios, but many people of the present generation probably never 
saw an andiron and know nothing of the pleasures of an open fire. 

For light of evenings the first settlers depended upon pine knots. Then came 
the "betty lamp," a round, shallow metal dish with a nose or spout about an inch 
long on one side. The dish was partially filled with oil or grease of some kind, 
into which was placed a loosely twisted strip of cotton cloth, one end of which 
projected through the spout. The projecting end was then lighted, and although 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 31 

such a lamp emitted both smoke and odor, it gave sufficient light to enable the 
housewife to attend to her duties. Over the fireplace and the table were hooks, 
from which the lamp could be suspended. 

Another lamp, called the "phebe/' differed from the betty lamp only in that 
it was made with two dishes, the larger one being placed underneath to catch the 
ashes from the burning wick and the drippings of grease. Lamps of this char- 
acter required a great deal of attention, as the wick had to be pushed forward as 
often as it burned down to the edge of the spout. 

A little later came the sperm oil lamp. It was made of tin and burned a round 
wick, which passed through a small tube to the oil. In one side of the tube was 
a narrow slot, in which could be inserted a pin, needle or small wire to pull up 
the wick when the flame began to burn low. This lamp was regarded as a great 
improvement over the betty and phebe lamps. 

Next came the tallow dip, which was made as follows : Several soft cotton 
wicks, about six inches long, were fastened at one end to a slender wand, then 
dipped into a kettle of molten tallow and hung up over a pan until the tallow 
adhering to the wick became hardened. Again and again the "dips" were im- 
mersed in hot tallow, a little more of which was added each time, until enough 
had accumulated to form a fair sized candle. 

Then some genius invented the candle-moulds — a group of four, six, or even 
more, tin tubes, one end of which was slightly smaller than the other, soldered 
together in a frame. A wick was drawn through the center of each tube and 
the moulds were then filled with molten tallow. When the tallow hardened the 
candles were withdrawn. Often there was but one set of candle-moulds in a 
neighborhood, but the owner was nearly always generous enough to lend them, 
and they passed from house to house until all had a supply of candles laid away 
in a cool, dry place for future use. 

Lanterns were sometimes made of horn, scraped thin enough to emit a faint 
light from the candle that was being placed inside. Others were made of per- 
forated tin, the holes being small enough to prevent the wind from blowing out 
the candle, yet large enough to throw out a tiny ray of light. Such a lantern 
made everything look "as spotted as a leopard." 

Matches were unknown in those days and every family kept a "tinder box" 
filled with scorched cotton rags. Into this "tinder" a spark was struck with flint 
and steel. The dry tinder was easily ignited and with a little care and skill could 
be coaxed into a flame. Then a betty lamp or a candle was lighted, when the 
box was closed and the tinder smothered until it was again needed. 

FURNITURE AND UTENSILS 

Bedsteads brought from England, or made by the first cabinet makers in this 
country, contained three or four times as much timber as the factory made bed- 
steads of more modern times. The posts were often four or even six inches 
square, turned in ornamental designs, and reached almost to the ceiling. There 
were neither slats, springs nor mattresses, such as are in use today. Cords were 
drawn tightly around small pins or through holes in the rails, which were almost 
as large as the posts. L T pon this network of cords was placed the "straw-tick," 
on the top of which was the feather bed. Between the posts at either end were 



32 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the head and foot boards, frequently ornately carved or scrolled along the upper 
edge. In the better class of homes a canopy was fastened to the tops of the 
posts, and from the edge of this canopy curtains extended almost to the floor. 

Then there was the '"trundle bed," a miniature of the great "four poster" 
as to the manner of construction, though much smaller in its dimensions. It was 
occupied by the children at night and during the day was pushed back under 
the larger bed to economize space. 

Tables and chairs were as massive in proportion as the bedsteads. Some of 
the chairs of colonial days, notably those of Governor Carver and John Eliot, the 
Indian apostle, have become historic. In the rooms of the Dedham Historical 
Society is preserved a chair once owned by Michael Metcalf, also Mr. Metcalf's 
chest, which he brought with him to Dedham in 1637. Both chair and chest 
are richly carved and so solidly put together that they have withstood the 
ravages of three centuries. 

The more opulent of the pioneers ascertained the time by a "grandfather's" 
or "wall-sweeper" clock. These clocks were about six feet tall, with wooden 
wheels, and the cases were many times works oi art. The weights of the 
clock were cylinders of tin filled with fine sand. If the clock ran too slow more 
sand was added to give greater impetus to the movement, and if it ran too fast 
some of the sand was taken out. Those who were not able to afford a clock 
depended upon a sun dial, or at least a "noon mark" on the sill of one of the 
south windows of the house. 

Cooking stoves and ranges had not then made their appearance and the meals 
were all prepared at the fireplace. The principal cooking utensils were an iron 
tea-kettle, a long-handled skillet (sometimes called a spider), and a large iron 
pot. Fastened to one of the walls of the fireplace was a crane, upon which the 
pot could be suspended over the fire. Excellent bread was often baked in the 
spider, by placing it over a bed of hot coals and then heaping more coals on the 
iron lid, so that the bread would bake at both top and bottom. The large pot 
was used in the preparation of the "New England boiled dinner," which con- 
sisted of meat and several kinds of vegetables cooked together. 

Many of the vessels and dishes — bowls, plates and spoons — were made of 
wood. When porcelain or earthenware dishes first came into use, many objected 
to them because they dulled the knives. There were also pewter porringers, 
teapots, etc. 

Farm implements were of the most primitive "type. Plows with wooden mold- 
boards, harrows wtih wooden teeth, rakes and pitchforks made of wood were 
in common use throughout the colony. Wheat was harvested with the old sickle, 
or "reaping hook," and threshed with the flail. Corn and wheat were ground in 
hand mills brought from England until some one with a little capital and enter- 
prise built a dam and mill on one of the streams. Settlers often went thirty 
or forty miles to such a mill rather than operate the old hand mill. 

FOOD AND CLOTHING 

Not many dainties could have been found upon the tables of the early set- 
tlers. Their food was plain but wholesome — beef, pork, cornbread and beans. 
The early mills did not bolt the meal and it was run through a sieve to separate 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 33 

the bran from the part intended for use. Game was plentiful and the family fre- 
quently enjoyed a feast of wild turkey or venison. Potatoes were not introduced 
until the early part of the Eighteenth Century. When they began to come into 
use many people thought they were poisonous. If any were left at the close 
of the winter they were carefully buried for fear some horse or cow might 
eat them and be killed. A story has been told of one man, who, when he saw 
the first potato, bit into it raw and then remarked that it "might be all right 
if allowed to stay in the ground until ripened by the frost." In some of the towns 
there was a by-law that no cakes, buns, or similar pastries should be served 
except at funerals and weddings. 

The first orchards were planted with seeds brought from the mother country. 
When they were old enough to bear fruit a stock of apple butter was prepared 
in the fall for use during the winter. Cider filtered through fine sand was also 
put in jugs and stored until such time as it might be needed. 

Everybody wore homespun clothing — woolen goods in the winter and linen 
in the summer. Each family had its flax-brake and hackle, and in the long winter 
'evenings the housewife, after her regular day's work was done, would get out 
her spinning wheel and spin flax until time to retire. Woolen yarn was spun 
on a larger wheel, the operator walking back and forth as the thread was drawn 
out and then wound up on the spindle. Cloth was woven on the old hand loom, 
garments were cut and sewed by hand with the needle, and there was probably 
not a lass sixteen years of age in the Massachusetts Bay colony who was not able 
to make her own dresses, or to operate a spinning wheel. How many of the 
young ladies who graduated in the Norfolk County high schools in 1917 can 
make their own gowns? 

In every settlement there was a tanyard, to which the farmer took his hides 
to be converted into leather. The shoemaker, or "cordwainer," did not have a 
fixed place of business. Each year he made his itinerary, stopping with each 
of his customers and boarding with the family while he made up a supply of 
shoes for the several members of the household. For his services he received 
about sixty cents a pair. 

MISCELLANEOUS FEATURES 

One of the first things to be done in a new settlement was to erect a stockade 
for protection in case of an Indian outbreak. For many years a sentinel was 
kept constantly on guard against the Indians. The signal was the beating of a 
drum, three shots fired from a musket, a beacon fire at night, or the firing of a 
cannon, if the town possessed one. Any one of these signals would cause mes- 
sengers to hurry to the outlying houses and warn the inmates. 

Nearly every house was surrounded by old-fashioned flowers, such as holly- 
hocks, marigolds, larkspur, bouncing betty, sun flowers and honeysuckle, and 
in the gardens were cultivated a variety of plants "for physick." Thyme, sage, 
wormwood, spearmint, pennyroyal, tansy and various other herbs were carefully 
garnered against a day of sickness, for the nearest physician was often miles away. 

Books were scarce and the few that found their way into a new colony were 
read and reread until their contents were almost known by heart. Every family 
had the Bible, the Catechism, Watts' Hymns and an Almanack, which consti- 



34 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

tuted the principal portion of the library. As late as the middle of the Eighteenth 
Century there was but one newspaper in all New England, and it had only a 
small circulation. Pamphlets by such men as Franklin, Adams, Jefferson and 
Paine, treating on the political situation, were printed and circulated among the 
people, which helped the cause of independence. 

Late in the fall of the year the Indians burned the grass and underbrush in 
certain tracts of woodland to drive out the game. After the white men came 
the cattle belonging to them would be gathered into a common herd and pas- 
tured in these burnt woods, or wherever there was a sufficient quantity of grass. 
These places were called "herd walks," and the common herd was in charge of 
a "herdsman." 

Although the forefathers were believers in temperance, West India or Ja- 
maica rum was used freely on all occasions, such as the dedication of meeting 
houses, funerals, in harvest time, or when the pastor visited the family, and 
instances are recorded where parish meetings "adjourned to the nearest inn," 
where liquors were served. Yet an intoxicated person was rarely seen. 

Travel in early days was chiefly on horseback, as no highways were opened 
for the accommodation of vehicles. In front of nearly every house, at the church, 
and before the stores in the villages were "horse-blocks," from which one could 
easily mount to the saddle. 

A popular superstition was that if one ate of pancakes made of rye flour 
on Candlemas Day he would not want for money during the year. Consequently 
on that day rye pancakes were served at least at one meal in nearly every 
household. 

Wolves and wildcats infested the woods and annoyed the settlers at night 
with their howls and cries. The story of Little Red Riding Hood had never been 
told to the children of that period, but many a night the little ones cuddled more 
closely together in their trundle bed and shuddered with fear as the howl of a 
wolf was heard near the frontier dwelling. But worse than the annoyance of 
their howls were the depredations of these prowling beasts upon the pig-sty and 
the sheep-fold. Bounties for wolf scalps in Norfolk County ran as high at one 
time as. two pounds. 



CHAPTER VI 
ORGANIZATION OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

FIRST COUNTIES IN NEW ENGLAND OLD NORFOLK COUNTY — DIVISION OF SUFFOLK — 

THE SECOND PETITION A THIRD EFFORT THE FOURTH PETITION — THE FIFTH 

PETITION — THE SIXTH PETITION — A LONG DELAY — UNDER THE CONSTITUTION — 
SUCCESS AT LAST — LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT. 

In the settlement of New England, especially in Massachusetts, townships or 
towns were established before the counties, and for a score of years the town- 
ship formed the unit of political action on all questions of public policy. In 
1642 the people of New Hampshire voluntarily united with Massachusetts, and on 
May 10, 1643, th e whole territory was divided into four counties — Essex, Middle- 
sex, Norfolk and Suffolk. These were the first New England counties. 

OLD NORFOLK COUNTY 

The County of Norfolk established in 1643, and which has since become known 
as "Old Norfolk County," embraced the towns of Dover, Exeter, Hampton, 
Haverhill, Salisbury and Strawberry Bank (now Portsmouth), all lying north 
of the Merrimac River. The Town of Amesbury was afterward erected and 
added to the county. In 1679 New Hampshire was made a royal province, taking 
four of the towns from Norfolk County, and on February 4, 1680, the General 
Court of Massachusetts issued the following order: 

"This Court being sensible of the great inconvenience and charge that it will 
be to Salisbury, Haverhill and Amesbury to continue their County Court, now 
some of the towns of Norfolk County are taken off, and considering that these 
towns did formerly belong to Essex County, and attended at Essex courts, do 
order that these towns that are left be again joined to Essex and attend public 
business at the Essex courts, there to implead and be impleaded, as occasion 
shall be ; their records of lands being still to be kept in some one of their own 
towns on the north of the Merrimack, and all persons according to course of law 
are to attend in Essex County." 

By this order "Old Norfolk County," established in 1643, passed out of 
existence, and the name was not revived until more than a century later, when 
the present Norfolk County was erected. The territory comprising the Norfolk 
County of the present day was included in the County of Suffolk in 1643, and 
remained a part of that county for one hundred and fifty years. 

DIVISION OF SUFFOLK 

The first movement for a division of Suffolk County was made early in 
May, 1726, when "A memorial of divers persons, representatives of ye country 

35 



36 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

towns within the County of Suffolk, praying that said towns be set apart by 
themselves and made a distinct county, was read in the House of Representatives 
of the Province," etc. (See State Archives, Court Records, vol. 13, p. 225.) 

The memorial at that time presented, and in which seven towns joined, set 
forth the following reasons for the establishment of a new county: 

"First — The hardships on the country jurymen attending a week or a fort- 
night together to causes they know little of by reasons of their ignorance of 
affairs of trade and merchandise. The allowance for the actions they try does 
not defray the charge of their attendance. The hardship to the parties who have 
actions in the courts that they are obliged to attend until the Boston cases are 
tried. 

"'Second — The vast business of the Sessions and Common Pleas coming 
together prolongs the court, and not about eight country causes in one hundred 
actions. 

"Third — If the country towns were a distinct county, it is probable that four 
days in the year would be sufficient for the dispatch of their business, and the 
juries would be concerned only in titles of land. 

"Fourth — The country towns are at great charge in maintaining the Boston 
prison. 

"Fifth — The greater number of justices of the county live in Boston, and so 
cannot be presumed to be knowing in country affairs. 

"Sixth — It is observable that the country people are at great charge in trav- 
elling to Boston for probate of wills, etc." 

After this memorial was read in the house, it was ordered that the Town of 
Boston be served with a copy thereof, "That they may show cause (if any they 
have), on or before Thursday, the ninth day of June next, why the Prayer of 
the petitioners shall not be granted." 

On May 25, 1726, the selectmen of Boston — John Baker, Nathaniel Green, 
Henry Dering and Timothy Prout — sent in a partial reply and asked for further 
time in which to prepare a full answer. They were granted until the following 
November. On November 26, 1726, the reply of the town, which had been pre- 
pared by the selectmen "with much skill and dexterity," was read in the House 
of Representatives. On the 30th the House voted in favor of granting the peti- 
tion, but the next day the Council refused to concur. Thus the project to establish 
a new county was defeated. 

THE SECOND PETITION 

Another petition asking for a division of Suffolk County came before the 
House of Representatives on June 19, 1727. It was signed by W. Dudley, John 
Chandler, Joseph Write, Thomas Tileston, Jonathan Ware, Joseph Ellis, Samuel 
W T hite, John Morse and John Brown, "in behalfe of ye Inhabitants." They also 
asked, in the event a new county was impracticable, "That the Inferior Court 
of Common Pleas and the Court of General Sessions of the Peace may be 
removed into the country part of Suffolk County, one to Braintree and the other 
to Medfield or Dedham." 

No action was taken upon this petition by the General Court until the 26th 
of the following December, when the House of Representatives granted the 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 37 

petitioners power and instructed them "to bring in a bill for constituting the 
country towns into a separate county," but the Council refused to concur. The 
following month the House of Representatives voted "That two of the Courts 
of General Sessions of the Peace and Superior Court of Common Pleas be kept 
as follows, viz., one at Braintree and the other at Dedham." Once more the 
Council nonconcurred, thereby manifesting a disposition to grant no favors 
whatever to the country towns. 

In this connection it may not be amiss to offer a word of explanation regard- 
ing the attitude of the Council on the question of establishing a new county. 
Under the charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the General Court 
was composed of the Governor, appointed by the King, the Council and the House 
of Representatives. The Council was at first appointed by the King, but the 
members of the House of Representatives were elected by the qualified voters 
in the respective towns. After the Court was established, the members of the 
Council were elected annually by joint ballot of the two branches of the Court. 
The councilmen, twenty-eight in number, were generally able to secure their 
reelection, and having first been placed in office by royal favor, they did not recog- 
nize any obligations to the people. Their refusal to recognize such obligations, 
or to show the common people any favors, added to the general discontent that 
culminated in the Revolution some years later. 

A THIRD EFFORT 

On October 2, 1730, the towns of Abington, Braintree, Hanover, Hingham, 
Hull, Scituate and Weymouth presented a petition asking that they be organized 
into a separate county. Evidently this movement was not regarded with favor 
by either branch of the General Court. It was laid over until the next session 
and on April 7, 1731, was dismissed without further consideration or ceremony. 

THE FOURTH PETITION 

The next request for the establishment of a new county came from the towns 
of Bellingham, Dedham, Framingham, Holliston, Medfield, Medway, Sherborn, 
Walpole and Wrentham in the form of a petition which was presented to the 
General Court on June 8, 1733. The petition respectfully asked "That said towns, 
and any other town adjacent, which the General Court shall think fit to join 
within the counties of Suffolk and Middlesex, may be erected into a separate 
county." The petition was referred to the next sitting of the Court, and there 
the matter appears to have ended, as no further record can be found. 

THE FIFTH PETITION 

In the House of Representatives, on June 19, 1735, was presented another 
petition "of divers towns in the County of Suffolk, praying that the county towns 
be set off from Boston." This petition was received and referred to the next 
sitting of the General Court, when Boston offered a lengthy argument, giving 
various reasons why the County of Suffolk should not be divided. One of these 
reasons w y as as follows: 



38 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

"The more we are united, the more our judges, by the recompense now allowed 
them, will be able to study the law and furnish themselves still further with 
power agreeable to their place and duty. . . . The bigger our counties are, 
the more contracted will the business be, the fees and profits of the judges shared 
among the fewer, and the more business despatched in less time, and that con- 
tinued without interruption and wasteful vacancies interposed." 

The House of Representatives refused to be converted by this argument 
and on January 2, 1736, passed a bill granting the prayer of the petitioners 
and authorizing the establishment of a new county. Again the Council noncon- 
curred and the question lay dormant for about two years. On January 10, 1738, 
a bill providing for the formation of a new county by the division of Suffolk 
reached the third reading in the House of Representatives and was ordered to 
be engrossed. It was then sent to the Council, where it was "indefinitely post- 
poned." 

THE SIXTH PETITION 

On December 30, 1740, a petition signed by a large number of the citizens 
of Braintree, Dedham. Dorchester, Hingham, Medfield, Milton, Needham, Rox- 
bury, Stoughton and Wrentham came before the General Court, asking for a 
division of Suffolk County ; that the towns above named be erected into a new 
county ; and that Boston and Chelsea be made a separate County. The House 
of Representatives voted in favor of granting the petition, and, to the great 
astonishment of the petitioners, this time the Council concurred. 

At last it looked as though the country towns were to be successful in their 
efforts to secure a division of Suffolk County. But the truth of the old adage, 
"There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip," was never better verified than 
in the fate of the petition. On January 9, 1741, a bill carrying out the intent of 
the petition was passed by the House of Representatives and sent to the Council. 
There it was read once, when further action was "indefinitely postponed," and 
again the movement to establish a new county met defeat. 

A LONG DELAY 

Discouraged by repeated rebuffs, the people of the country towns allowed 
several years to pass before making another effort to secure the division of 
Suffolk County. In 1760 a petition was circulated in some of the towns, but it 
did not meet with a hearty support and the attempt was abandoned. 

Again in 1775 it was voted in some of the towns to present another petition 
to the General Court asking for a division of Suffolk County. Efforts were made 
to secure signers to such a petition, which was drawn in the names of all the 
towns in the county, except Boston and Chelsea, praying for the establishment 
of a new county to be called Hancock. A number of signers had been obtained 
when the battle of Lexington occurred, the war overshadowed everything else, and 
all thoughts of the new county were postponed until the restoration of peace. 

UNDER THE CONSTITUTION 

Nothing further in the matter of the division of Suffolk County was under- 
taken until after the adoption of the Massachusetts State Constitution on June 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 39 

15, 1780. Under that constitution the first General Court was convened in Boston 
on October 25, 1780. A short time before the meeting of the Court, a number 
of towns in the county elected delegates to a convention to decide upon some 
policy relative to the division of the county. The convention met at Timothy 
Gay's tavern in Dedham, December 12, 1780, and adopted a resolution to the 
effect "That the towns of Bellingham, Dedham, Foxborough, Franklin, Medfield, 
Medway, Needham, Stoughton, Stoughtonham, Walpole and Wrentham, with 
Holliston, Hopkinton, Natick and Sherborn, in the County of Middlesex, ought 
to be formed into a new county, with Medfield as the shire town." 

A petition in harmony with the spirit of this resolution was circulated and 
was signed by a large number of the citizens in the various towns. It was 
presented to the House of Representatives on April 28, 1781, where it was read 
and referred to a committee. When the bill passed by the house came before 
the senate it was amended, and in the amended form failed to become a law. 

On September 29, 1783, a petition from Dedham and other towns was read 
for the first time in the House of Representatives. Just how this petition was 
finally disposed of is not clear. It was referred to a committee in the house 
and sent to the senate for concurrence. On October 20, 1783, the senate voted 
to concur in the action of the house, but no new county was established. 

The next move for the division of Suffolk County came on January 31, 1784, 
when a petition signed by Daniel Gay and others came before the senate. This 
petition was presented "in behalf of Dedham and certain other towns in the 
counties of Suffolk and Middlesex,'' asking for the erection of a new county. 
The senate ordered that notice of said petition be given to all the towns in said 
counties, and the house concurred with an amendment, which the senate accepted. 

In May, 1784, a town meeting was held in Dedham, at which it was voted 
to appoint a committee to confer with the other towns in the County of Suffolk 
as to the expediency of dividing the county. The meeting also decided "That our 
representative be instructed to use his influence to secure delay on the petition 
for dividing the county until the sentiment of said towns can be known." Later 
in the month, at another meeting, it was voted to instruct the representative "to 
use his influence to oppose the granting of the prayer of the petition now before 
the General Court for dividing the County of Suffolk." 

The action of the Dedham town meetings seems to have been effective in 
defeating the purpose of the Gay petition and preventing a division of the county 
for the time being. But in 1786 Dedham instructed its representative "to endeavor 
a division of the county whereby we may be separate from Boston, and in support 
of the motion you are to offer the following arguments, and such others as your 
ingenuity may suggest." 

Then follows in detail a series of reasons for the division of the county, one 
of which was : "Should courts of justice be erected -in some country town within 
the county, w r e expect (at least for awhile) that the wheels of law and justice 
would move on without the clogs and embarrassments of a numerous train of 
lawyers. The scenes of gaiety and amusements which are more prevalent at 
Boston we expect would so allure them, as that we should be rid of their perplex- 
ing officiousness." 

Apparently the people of that period believed the average lawyer to be a 
pleasure-loving individual who cared more for "gaiety and amusement" than for 



40 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the serious business of his profession. Although the instructions to the Dedham 
representative were full and complete, he failed at this time to secure the desired 
division of Suffolk County, and the subject was permitted to rest for another five 
years. 

On February 25, 1791, the petition of Moses Fuller and others, asking for the 
division of Suffolk County, was read in the House of Representatives. A few 
davs later it was referred to a joint committee and notices sent to all the towns 
of the county. Remonstrances came in from Boston, Brookline, Hingham and 
Roxbury, but the joint committee recommended a bill for the establishment of 
the new county asked for by the petitioners. The report of the committee was 
accepted by the house on February 24, 1792, by a vote of 72 to 40, but on March 
8th the senate voted not to concur. 

SUCCESS AT LAST 

Encouraged by the action of the General Court on the Fuller petition, the 
advocates of county division girded on their armor for the final fray. As the 
project was defeated in the senate, an anonymous letter was sent to all the towns 
suggesting that a contest be made for the election of senators who would favor 
the establishment of a new county. Suffolk County at that time had six senators. 
The election was to be held on the first Monday in April, 1792. Less than a 
month remained in which to make a campaign, but a man from each of the thir- 
teen towns that had been advocating division (except Bellingham, Braintree and 
Medway) met at the house of John Ellis, in Dedham, and assumed authority to 
nominate a senatorial ticket. 

Prior to this meeting, however, what was known as the "Boston Ticket" had 
already been named. The candidates on this ticket were : Thomas Dawes, 
Benjamin Austin, Oliver Wendell and James Bowdoin, of Boston ; William Heath, 
of Roxbury ; and Stephen Metcalf, of Bellingham, all of whom were supposed to 
be opposed to the division of Suffolk County. 

The meeting at Ellis' nominated Stephen Metcalf, Lemuel Kollock, John 
Everett, Seth Bullard, Elijah Dunbar and Gen. Ebenezer Thayer, Jr. Dr. 
Nathaniel Ames, in an account of the affair, says: "But their meeting was so 
public, made such a bustle, and was so indiscreetly managed, that the idlers about 
the house talked openly of their business of choosing senators, so that it will be 
in the newspapers and the whole design defeated, as secrecy was the only founda- 
tion to build on." 

Stephen Metcalf, being on both tickets, was elected without question. At the 
opening of the General Court the senate and house, in joint convention, elected 
all the remaining candidates on the "Boston Ticket" except James Bowdoin, for 
whom General Thayer was substituted. 

But the "tempest in a teapot" over the election of senators had its effect. On 
June 12, 1792, the House of Representatives took up the Moses Fuller petition 
and referred it to a committee, with instructions to report as to the advisability 
of dividing Suffolk County. Nothing further was done until February 8, 1793, 
when a joint committee recommended the passage of a bill in accordance with 
the prayer of the petitioners. The bill was accordingly introduced, passed both 
house and senate on March 22, 1793, and was approved by Gov. John Hancock 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 41 

on the 26th. It provided that "All the territory of the County of Suffolk, not 
comprehended within the towns of Boston and Chelsea, from and after the 20th 
day of June next, be and hereby is formed and erected into a distinct county, by 
the name of Norfolk, and Dedham shall be the shire town till otherwise ordered 
by the General Court." 

Before the day came for the act to take effect, the towns of Hingham and 
Hull sent petitions to the General Court asking to be allowed to remain a part of 
Suffolk County, and on June 20, 1793, an act was passed repealing that part of 
the act of March 26th relating to those two towns. 

As originally erected, the County of Norfolk consisted of twenty-one towns, to 
wit : Bellingham, Braintree, Brookline, Cohasset, Dedham, Dorchester, District 
of Dover, Foxborough, Franklin, Medfield, Medway, Milton, Needham, Quincy, 
Randolph, Roxbury, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, Weymouth and Wrentham. 

It is not certain who is responsible for the county's name. In the bill a space 
was left and the name "Norfolk" was inserted just before the final passage of 
the measure. Geographically, the name is inappropriate. As the first settlers of 
Massachusetts were English people, it was natural that they should adopt many 
of the names of their native land. In the eastern part of England, on the shores 
of the North Sea, there are two counties called Norfolk and Suffolk. The inhabi- 
tants of the northern county were originally known as the "North Folk," and 
those of the southern were called the "South Folk." In time the names were 
shortened to Nor' Folk and Sou' Folk, and the counties became known as Nor- 
folkshire and Suffolkshire. It is related that not long after Norfolk County, 
Massachusetts, was organized, John Randolph of Virginia walked up to John 
Quincy Adams in the national House of Representatives, of which both were then 
members, and said: "Look here, Quincy, how is this? You live in Norfolk 
County ; now what the devil do you people in Massachusetts mean by setting off 
Norfolk County and putting it south of Suffolk County?" 

LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT 

When it came to locating the county seat, or shire town, opinion was divided. 
Braintree, Dedham, Medfield, Milton and Roxbury were all mentioned for the 
honor, but none of them was satisfactory in every respect. The people of Medfield 
destroyed the aspirations of that town by declaring that "The practice of visiting 
the court room during the trial of cases would be prejudicial to habits of industry 
in the citizens." 

On February 8, 1776, seventeen years before Norfolk County was established, 
the General Court passed the following act : "Whereas, Boston is now made a 
garrison for the ministerial army and become a common receptacle for the enemies 
of America, it is enacted that Dedham shall be made the shire town of the County 
of Suffolk for the future." 

Dedham remained the shire town of Suffolk until after the evacuation of 
Boston by the British army, when the seat of justice was taken back to Boston. 
But the town having once been thus honored by the General Count seems to have 
given it some advantage in the contest, and it was declared to be the shire town 
"till otherwise ordered by the General Court." As that body has never seen fit 
to order otherwise, Dedham remains the shire town to the present day. 



CHAPTER VII 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

THE FIRST COURT-HOUSE — THE SECOND COURT-HOUSE — FATE OF THE OLD COURT- 
HOUSE — COURT-HOUSE OF l86l — THE PRESENT COURT-HOUSE — THE DEDICATION 
— COURT-HOUSE AT QUINCY — THE COUNTY JAIL — THE REGISTRY BUILDING — ■ 
VALUE OF COUNTY BUILDINGS. 

One of the first necessities of a new county is a suitable building in which to 
hold the sessions of the courts and transact the county business. The first step 
toward the erection of a court-house in Norfolk County was taken on January 7, 
1794, when the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, then in session "in the 
meeting house at Dedham," on account of cold weather "to adjourn to the Sign of 
the Law Book" (the Ames Tavern). This brought up the subject of the court- 
house, and Thomas Crane, of Canton ; Stephen Penniman.of Braintree ; and Joseph 
Guild, of Dedham, were appointed a committee "to look for a proper spot of 
ground and report on what terms the County of Norfolk can be accommodated 
for their public buildings." 

At a subsequent meeting of the court, the committee reported that the Episco- 
pal Church in Dedham offered the house of worship "and the land lying common 
adjoining," but reserved the right "to worship therein on the Sabbath until such 
time as they can build another church." This resulted in the appointment of 
another committee, consisting of Joseph Guild, Dr. Nathaniel Ames and Elijah 
Adams, to solicit funds to provide the county with a public building. Anticipating 
that some of the citizens might prefer a new court-house to the old church, the 
committee was given a twofold authority : First, to raise funds to repair and 
remodel the church building, and second, to raise funds to build a court-house on 
the First Church land, near the Episcopal Church. 

On June 30, 1794, the First Church of Christ in Dedham made a voluntary 
grant to the County of Norfolk of "the northeast corner of their lot, near the 
meeting house of the First Parish of said Dedham, for the situation of their 
court-house, together with as many suitable trees to be marked by the trustees 
of said church, as will be sufficient for making all the joists for the proposed 
court-house on said corner, as a gift to the county," etc. 

At the same session of the court the committee appointed to solicit subscrip- 
tions for repairing the Episcopal Church or building a court-house reported that 
it had been unable to raise funds for either project. The court then ordered that 
the offer of the First Church be accepted and that the court-house be built upon 
the ground thus donated. In the estimates of public expenditures for the year 
was included the item of six hundred pounds for a court-house. Joseph Guild, 

42 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 43 

Thomas Crane, Stephen Badlam, James Endicott and Stephen Penniman were 
appointed a committee to receive conveyance of the land, and "proceed to con- 
tract for and make provision of necessary materials for said court-house, as soon 
as may be ; that they contract for the frame of said court-house on the most 
prudent terms for said county, of good timber, well wrought in a workmanlike 
manner — sills about 35 by 45 (or 50) feet, more or less, as near consistent with 
due proportion, according to a plan to be obtained from Mr. Bulfinch, of Boston, 
and other good architects, and approved by the court at their adjournment; and 
that they proceed to contract by the job with such persons as they, after they 
have advertised and received proposals of as great a number as will offer in 
reasonable time prefixed, shall judge and select as for the best interest of said 
county at large, to perform each a different part of said court-house in a work- 
manlike manner, according to a plan approved as aforesaid, and that said con- 
tracts be made in writing sufficiently secured." 

On August 17, 1794, the Court of General Sessions voted to accept a plan — 
or rather a wooden model — of a court-house submitted by Isaac and Samuel 
Doggett, contractors of Dedham, which was presented by the committee. The 
contract for the erection of the building was awarded to Isaac and Samuel 
Doggett, and on October 28, 1794, the court, then in session in Gay's Hall, 
ordered : "That the court-house be erected with one end north, fronting the 
meeting house, the other end south, and that the committee on buildings so far 
deviate from the plan of the court-house first adopted as to make it nearly con- 
formable with the plan of the Salem Court-House within, with a door at each 
end without." 

The following spring the court made another addition to the original plan. 
On May 14, 1795, it was ordered: "That Thomas Crane, Hon. James Endicott 
and Stephen Penniman, Esq., be a committee to proceed with as great economy 
as may be for the county, and, by complete workmen, so far finish the court 
chamber that the Supreme Court may hold its next session for this county therein 
by the 15th of August next; and that they apply to Mr. Bulfinch, architect in 
Boston, for a plan of a decent cupola, or turret, to such court-house, agreeable 
to the rules of architecture for a building of such site, use and magnitude, and 
proceed in stoning, clapboarding and painting the outside, with such cupola com- 
plete, and that said committee shall be held responsible for the goodness of work- 
manship and materials aforesaid." 

Another order of the same date was to the clerk "to draw orders on the 
treasury in favor of sai'd committee for sums not exceeding the amount of three 
hundred pounds, to be advanced to them as they have occasion to purchase for 
executing the trust in them." 

Just when the "last nail was driven" is not certain, but on April 26, 1796, the 
Court of General Sessions allotted the rooms in the court-house to the several 
county officers and courts. The building was two stories high, 36 by 50 feet, with 
a hall eight feet wide running through the center. The exterior was colonial in 
style, the corners ornamented with quoins and the roof surmounted by a cupola. 
The interior was finished with paneled wainscoting. The cost of the building 
cannot be ascertained. It served Norfolk County for about thirty years, when 
it was replaced by the 



44 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 



SECOND COURT-HOUSE 



About 1820 some of the lawyers practicing in the Norfolk County courts, and 
others, realized that the county had outgrown its court-house and began an agita- 
tion for a new one. It was urged that the old house was too small for the proper 
transaction of public business; that, being entirely of wood, it was not a safe 
place for the public records, and that it was an "undesirable incumbrance upon 
the church green." Parties interested in litigation soon saw that courts were 
handicapped by the antiquated appointments of the old house, and the movement 
in favor of a new court-house gathered momentum as it went along. 

On December 26, 1821, the Court of General Sessions appointed as a com- 
mittee Edward H. Robbins, of Milton; Elijah Crane, of Canton; Ebenezer Seaver, 
of Roxbury ; Thomas Greenleaf, of Ouincy; and John Bates, of Bellingham, 
''to take into consideration, among other things, the subject of erecting a fire- 
proof building for the safe keeping of the records of the county." The committee 
reported on July 2, 1822, that the members thereof were "unanimously of the 
opinion that the duty of erecting a fire-proof building for the safe keeping of the 
records of the county, pursuant to law, is imperious, and that the same should 
be made of convenient size and construction as soon as practicable." 

The committee also reported that two sites had been offered as a site for the 
new structure, and recommended that one of them be selected. One was an acre 
of ground adjoining the jail lot, which was offered by John Bullard, and the 
other was a tract of land belonging to the heirs of Fisher Ames "embracing the 
whole northeast end of their lot, from Hartford Road to Cross Street, so far as 
the extreme southeast side of the Mansion House." The Hartford Road is now 
High Street and the name of Cross Street has been changed to Norfolk. Mr. 
Milliard asked $800 for his lot and the Ames heirs wanted $1,200 for theirs. The 
latter was selected by the Court of Sessions and on May 4, 1824, Mrs. Frances 
Ames executed a deed conveying to Norfolk County "a parcel of land containing 
about one acre and a half, lying in front of her dwelling-house in Dedham, on the 
opposite side of the road, as a site on which it is contemplated to erect a court- 
house." 

The land thus conveyed to the county is the site of the present court-house, and 
the Court of Sessions agreed that no buildings should ever be erected upon the 
same except those for county purposes. On the day the deed was executed, the 
Court of Sessions ordered John Bullard, then treasurer of Norfolk County, to 
give a note, as treasurer of the county, to Mrs. Ames for $1,000, payable in five 
annual instalments of $200 each, with interest, "said note being the consideration 
for a parcel of land conveyed by her to said county," etc. 

Solomon Willard, then a resident of Ouincy, was commissioned to prepare 
plans for a new court-house, and on November 4, 1824, the Court of Sessions 
ordered Treasurer Bullard to sign and execute contracts with the firm of Damon 
& Hates for the erection of the building, which was to be 48 by 98 feet, two 
stories in height, modeled in the form of "an ancient Grecian temple, with columns 
at both ends." The cost of the court-house and the ground upon which it was to 
be built was provided for by a levy of about three thousand dollars a year until 
the whole expense of about thirty thousand dollars was paid. 

On Monday, July 4, 1825, the corner-stone was laid according to the ceremony 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 45 

of the Masonic fraternity. The day being the anniversary of the signing of the 
Declaration of Independence, a number of militia companies participated in the 
ceremonies by forming at the Masonic Hall and escorting the Grand Lodge 
"through a triumphal arch to the site of the new court-house." Under the corner- 
stone was placed a silver plate, bearing the following inscription, engraved by 
Hazen Morse : 

"The corner-stone of this court-house was laid with Masonic ceremonies 
by R. W. Thomas Tolman, Esq., acting as grand master, assisted by Constella- 
tion Lodge at Dedham, and other lodges of Free and Accepted Masons in the 
County of Norfolk, July 4, Anno Lucis 5825, and 49 years since the Declaration 
of American Independence. Norfolk County established June 20th, A. D. 1793. 
Building Committee : Hon. Jairus Ware, Daniel Adams, Samuel P. Loud, Judges 
of the Court of Sessions; Elijah Crane, sheriff; John B. Bates, master mason; 
Isaac Damon, master carpenter; M. W. and Hon. John Abbot, grand master; 
M. E. and Rev. Paul Deane, grand high priest ; John Ouincy Adams, President 
of the United States ; Levi Lincoln, Governor of Massachusetts." 

Deposited with this plate were, among other things, a small beaver hat of 
the then prevailing fashion, made by Timothy Phelps of Dedham, the newspapers 
of the day, Daniel Webster's address, with an account of the battle of Bunker 
Hill, and specimens of marbled paper manufactured by Herman Mann & Sons 
of Dedham. 

This second court-house in Norfolk County was 48 by 98 feet, two stories 
in height, with a projection of ten feet at each end resting upon four Doric 
pillars, three feet and ten inches in diameter at the base and nearly twenty-one 
feet high. The granite in the walls came from a quarry about eight miles west 
of Dedham. It was dedicated on February 20, 1827, by Chief Justice Isaac 
Parker, of the Supreme Judicial Court. In his address Judge Parker gave it as 
his opinion that the new court-house "excelled the Worcester court-house in its 
material, and the Suffolk court-house in its architectural beauty." 

FATE OF THE OLD COURT-HOUSE 

On October 19, 1827, the old court-house was sold at public auction by order 
of the Court of General Sessions. It was purchased by Harris Munroe and 
Erastus Worthington and removed to the easterly side of Court Street, a short 
distance south of its original location. The purchasers had a hope that the 
building would be bought by the Town of Dedham, but in 1828 the people of 
the town voted to erect a town hall and the old court-house was used as a millinery 
shop and dwelling. In 1845 Munroe and Worthington sold it to the Temperance 
Hall Association, which converted the upper story into a hall for public meetings. 
Among the noted men who spoke in Temperance Hall were : Dr. Oliver Wen- 
dell Holmes, Horace Mann, Abraham Lincoln, William R. Alger, Bishop Hunt- 
ington and John Boyle O'Reilly. On April 28, 1891, the old court-house and 
some of the adjoining buildings were destroyed by fire. All that is left of Norfolk- 
County's first temple of justice is the old bell, which is now among the relics 
preserved by the Dedham Historical Society. It bears the inscription : "Revere, 
Boston, 1790." The bell was cast by Paul Revere, whose famous ride on the 



46 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

night of April 18, 1775, "Through every Middlesex village and farm," will 
never fade from the pages of American history. 

COURT-HOUSE OF l86l 

In i860 it became apparent that Norfolk County was in need of more room 
in which to transact properly the public business. The board of county com- 
missioners was then composed of Nathaniel F. Safford, of Milton ; Lucas Pond, 
of Wrentham ; and Charles Endicott, of Canton. These commissioners first 
considered the erection of a separate building, to be used by the register of 
deeds and the register of probate and insolvency, and a tract of land across 
High Street from the court-house, including the site of the old Ames Tavern, 
was purchased by John Gardner as a location for the new building. At a later 
meeting of the board it was decided that it would be more convenient to have 
all the county business under one roof, which could be accomplished by extend- 
ing the north front and adding wings to the court-house. 

This proposition met with some opposition. A remonstrance, signed by about 
forty representative citizens of the county, was sent in to the commissioners 
and published in the Dedham Gazette, but it was ignored by the commissioners, 
who on April 26, i860, voted "to erect a fire-proof structure for the custody 
of the public records, and additional apartments for the accommodation of 
citizens in attendance upon the business of the court, by extending this building 
to meet the existing wants of the county." 

The contract for the alterations and additions was awarded to Nelson Curtis 
and William Huston, who began on June 12, i860. The corner-stone was relaid 
on September 13, i860, without disturbing in any way the deposit placed in the 
corner-stone laid on July 4, 1825. By the side of the former deposit were placed 
the following articles: A photograph of the court-house of 1825; a drawing 
of the court-house showing the alterations of i860; a list of the officers of the 
Court of Probate and Insolvency ; a list of the county officers ; the Boston 
Almanac, all of i860; copies of the county newspapers; a copy of the annual 
report of the Town of Dedham for i860; newspapers containing the history of 
the previous court-houses ; a document containing the names of the architects, 
contractors and others concerned in the alterations then being made, and a steel 
pen. The first session of the Probate Court in the new office in the north wing 
was held on November 4, 1861, but the building was not fully completed until 
the following year. The cost of the alterations was about seventy-five thousand 
dollars. 

THE PRESENT COURT-HOUSE 

During the year 1890 the board of county commissioners authorized the 
expenditure of over five thousand dollars in making repairs upon the court- 
house. The board was then composed of George W. Wiggin, of Franklin ; John 
Q. A. Lothrop, of Cohasset ; and Melville P. Morrell, of Hyde Park, which was 
then one of the towns of Norfolk County. Mr. Morrell advocated another addi- 
tion to the building, rather than spend any more of the county's money in what 
he considered "temporary makeshifts." In the fall of 1891 the question of 
another addition to the court-house became, in a way, a political issue. Mr. Mor- 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 47 

rell, whose attitude on the subject was well known, was reelected by a large 
majority, indicating that his views had the approbation of the citizens. 

Shortly after the election, the commissioners employed the firm of Wait & 
Cutter, architects of Boston, to make plans for the proposed addition. On April 
28, 1892, a contract was made with Lyman D. Willcutt, of Dedham, for the 
first stone work, and on the 25th of the following July Air. Willcutt was awarded 
the contract "for the superstructure of the addition on the rear of the old court- 
house and changes of the court-room portions." The next day a contract was 
entered into with B. D. Whitcomb & Company, carpenters and builders, of 
Boston, to do the finishing on the new addition. Later contracts were made 
with Keeler & Company, of Boston, for new furniture, and with Hollings & Com- 
pany, of Boston, for the gas and electric fixtures. On February 6, 1894, another 
contract was made with Lyman D. Willcutt & Son "for the complete alteration 
of the front portion of the old court-house and the dome.'' 

The walls of the new addition were constructed of granite from the same 
quarry as that used in the former building and addition, that no lack of uni- 
formity might appear. The halls, corridors and lavatories are wainscoted with 
marble from Tennessee and Italy, and the same kind of marble is used in the 
stairways. The main floor in the corridors is also of Tennessee marble. Through- 
out the woodwork, door and window casings, etc., is of polished quartered oak, 
and the furniture is of the same material. The roof of the building is of slate 
and that of the dome is of copper. In 1894 the Legislature authorized the 
county to borrow $125,000, which sum represents approximately the cost of the 
new addition and the alterations in the old part of the court-house. 

THE DEDICATION 

On June 20, 1895, just one hundred and two years after Norfolk County was 
first organized, the remodeled court-house was dedicated with appropriate cere- 
monies. The first exercises were conducted in the court-room, beginning at 
10:30 A. M. Mellville P. Morrell, chairman of the board of county commis- 
sioners, called the meeting to order and, after prayer by Rev. Mark B. Taylor 
of Canton, made a short introductory address. He was followed by Hon. Fred- 
erick D. Ely, who delivered the historical address, in which he reviewed the 
progress of Norfolk County for one hundred and two years and gave a brief 
history of each of its court-houses. Judge Ely was followed by Chief Justice 
Albert Mason, of the Superior Court of the Commonwealth, who delivered the 
dedicatory address. The exercises at the court-house were followed by a banquet 
in Memorial Hall, which was attended by some four hundred persons. Thomas 
E. Grover acted as toastmaster, and among the responses were the following: 

"The County of Norfolk," Hon. Roger Wolcott, Lieutenant-Governor of 
Massachusetts. 

"Our Revolutionary Patriots," Charles Francis Adams. 

"Political History of Norfolk County," Alfred D. Chandler. 

"The Norfolk Bar, Past and Present," Edward Avery. 

"The Superior Court," Hon. James R. Dunbar. 

"Norfolk County in the Civil War," John D. Billings. 

"Manufacturing Industries of Norfolk County," Elijah A. Morse. 



48 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

"The Clergy, in Their Relation to Civil Government," Rev. Reuben Thomas 
of Brookline. 

COURT-HOUSE AT QUINCY 

Chapter 477 of the Acts of 1910 conferred upon the commissioners of Norfolk 
County the necessary authority "to purchase land in Quincy and construct a 
building for the District Court of East Norfolk." The site for the building 
was purchased at a cost oi $19,000, and the Legislature of 191 1 passed an act 
"to provide for completing and furnishing the building," etc. 

William Chapman, an architect of Boston, was employed to make plans, and 
on July 8, 191 1, the contract for the erection of the court-house was awarded to 
William Crane of Cambridge, the contractor who built the new wing of the 
state house. His bid was $59,471, but these figures did not include the heating 
plant, plumbing, electric wiring and some minor features. On January 10, 1912, 
the commissioners reported that the cost of the building up to that time was 
$71,797.07. The grounds were graded and a few "finishing touches" were 
added after that report, so that the total cost of court-house and furnishings 
was about seventy-five thousand dollars. 

The Quincy court-house has a granite foundation and the walls of the super- 
structure are of light-colored brick. At the main entrance are two large granite 
columns that reach nearly to the top of the second story windows, supporting 
a pediment of simple yet graceful design. The construction of the building is 
fireproof throughout and its capacity is ample for the needs of the District Court 
of East Norfolk for years to come. 

THE COUNTY JAIL 

On August 25, 1794, the Court of General Sessions, at a session held at Gay's 
Tavern in Dedham, ordered : "That the committee on buildings proceed as soon 
as may be in collecting materials for building the jail, with the necessary irons 
for plating one room of the same for the security of prisoners, without being 
restricted to contract by the job, as for the court-house, but according to their 
best discretion for the benefit of the county." 

On the last day of September following this order, the court accepted from 
Timothy Gay the gift of a lot "Bounding southerly on the Post Road from 
Boston to Providence, beginning ten feet west of the southwest corner of said 
Gay's garden near his dwelling house, thence measuring fifty-four feet south- 
westerly, on said Gay's land 88 feet, two sides in said Gay's land similar, so as 
to make a parallelogram." 

In other words, the jail lot thus donated was situated on what is now High- 
land Street, not far from the Episcopal Church. The jail erected on that lot was 
a frame building and the first prisoner was incarcerated within its walls in Feb- 
ruary, T795. It served the county as a jail until 1817, when a stone jail thirty- 
three feet square and two stories in height was erected upon the lot occupied by 
the present jail. The old wooden jail was then used until 1833 as a house of 
correction. It was torn down in 1833, the year after a brick house of correction 
was completed on the jail lot on Village Avenue. 



d 

H 

d 

o 

■< 




HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 49 

The jail built in 1817 was of hammered stone, with walls so massive that, 
after deducting the space for the rooms assigned to the jailer, there was but 
little space left for cells and stairways. The cost of this jail was $15,000 — not 
a profitable investment for the county, owing to the defects in arrangement 
mentioned above. In 185 1 part of the jail and the brick house of correction 
were torn down to make way for the main portion of the present structure, which 
includes the octagon central portion and the east and west wings, in which cells 
were constructed. The workshop was added to the west wing in 1875, and the 
sheriff's residence, on the south side of the central portion, facing Village Avenue, 
was built in 1880. 

Around the walls of the octagonal central portion are iron galleries level 
with the floor of each tier of cells in the wings. The total number of cells is 
108. By this arrangement the turnkey, from his desk in the center, commands 
a view of all the corridors and can detect any mutiny or insubordination on the 
part of the prisoners. In this high central part two men have been executed. 
George C. Hersey was hanged here on August 8, 1862, and James H. Costley 
on June 25, 1875. An account of the crimes for which these men suffered capital 
punishment is given in another chapter. In scraping off the old paint on the 
interior of the central portion in May, 1917, preparatory to repainting, the date 
"1832" was exposed on the wall of the north wing, showing it to be a part of 
Norfolk County's second jail. 

The jail kitchen in the basement is equipped with modern cooking and 
bread-making apparatus, the oven having a capacity of 500 pounds of bread at 
one baking. In the basement are also the store room and a large bathroom 
provided with a dozen porcelain lined bathtubs. Every prisoner is required to take 
a bath upon entering and at regular stated intervals during his imprisonment. 
The entire building is heated by steam and special attention is given to the 
sanitary conditions. In the county treasurer's report ft for the year 1916 the value 
of the jail building and lot is given at $333,500. 

THE REGISTRY BUILDING 

Opposite the court-house on High Street stands the Registry Building, which 
was erected under the provisions of the act of May 12, 1903, authorizing the 
county commissioners to expend the sum of $280,000 for that purpose. A 
previous act had authorized the expenditure of $200,000. After the passage 
of the supplementary act, adding $80,000 to the building fund, the firm of Pea- 
body & Stearns, architects of Boston, were employed to make plans and speci- 
fications. Three bids were opened on July 7, 1903, and on the 14th the contract 
was awarded to McNeil Brothers of Boston, their bid being $256,506. 

The main section of the building is 52 by 186 feet, two stories high, and in 
the rear there is a one-story projection 68 by 80 feet. There is a basement 
under the entire building, in which is located the heating plant, etc. The front 
and end walls of the main portion are faced with Deer Isle granite, and the rear 
part is of gray Pompeian brick. The main entrance is marked by two granite 
columns of the Corinthian order, extending to the top of the second story 
windows, surmounted by a pediment of classic proportions. The floors are 
mosaic, the roof of copper, and the furniture of steel, so that the entire structure 



50 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

is as nearly fireproof as human ingenuity can devise. The building was completed 
and occupied on September i, 1905. Its total cost was $278,197.97. 

VALUE OF COUNTY BUILDINGS 

On page 34 of the county commissioners' report for the year 1916, the value 
of the public buildings of Norfolk County, including the grounds is given as 
follows : 

Court-House $ 402,000 . 

Jail 333.500 

Registry Building 298,000 

District Court-House at Quincy 100,000 

Training School at Walpole 21,500 

Agricultural School 75'°oo 

Total $1,230,000 

In this table there is a small cash balance included in the value of the Agri- 
cultural School. That institution and the Training School at Walpole are educa- 
tional in their nature and their history is therefore given in the chapter on 
Education. 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE NEW ENGLAND TOWNSHIP 

TWO KINDS OF TOWNSHIPS IN THE UNITED STATES — THE DIFFERENCE — THE ANGLO- 
SAXON TUNSCIPE ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP PATENTS ISSUED BY THE 

PLYMOUTH COMPANY FIRST TOWN MEETINGS IN NEW ENGLAND THEIR 

INFLUENCE IN THE REVOLUTION — JEFFERSON ON THE TOWNSHIP FORM OF GOV- 
ERNMENT — TOWNSHIPS OF THE SOUTH AND WEST COMPARED WITH NEW ENG- 
LAND UN STATE AND NATIONAL AFFAIRS. 

Townships in the United States are of two kinds — civil and congressional. 
The congressional township did not come into existence until after the passage 
of the "land ordinance" by Congress in 1785, and is therefore unknown in New 
England. It is always six miles square, bounded by township and range lines, and 
is divided into thirty-six sections, each one mile square, for convenience in 
measuring, describing and conveying land. In the western states, where the 
public domain was surveyed under the new system, the civil and congressional 
township are often identical. In the older states the civil townships vary in size 
and shape, their boundaries in many instances being formed by natural features, 
such as streams, ranges of hills, etc., or by "direct lines'' between two given 
points. The civil township also differs from the congressional in that it is a politi- 
cal subdivision, possessing officers and powers for local government. 

In England, during the reign of King Alfred, a minor political division called 
the "tunscipe" was established. It equaled as an ecclesiastical unit the parish, 
and as a political unit was governed by a popular assembly called the "tun moot," 
a term which in later English was developed into "town meeting," the oldest form 
of government known to man. Far back in the history of the human race, a 
few families, usually related to each other, would form a "clan" and in a mass 
meeting make rules for the regulation of their affairs. The principle was carried 
down to Rome in the meetings held in the forum, and in Greece the assemblages 
of the populace in the agora for the discussion and settlement of questions per- 
taining to the general welfare. Among the Germans and Scandinavians, the same 
principle is seen in the government of the minor political division called the 
"mark." 

Under the Great Patent to the Plymouth Company, November 3, 1620. pro- 
vision was made for issuing two kinds of patents to occupants of lands. First, 
for private proprietors of small plantations, who were to have certain lands at a 
specified annual rental, which lands they were not to abandon without permis- 
sion, and who obligated themselves to settle a given number of persons within a 
stipulated time. Second, for "such parties as proposed to build towns, with large 
numbers of people, having a government of their own, with magistrates who 

51 



52 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

were to have power to frame such laws and constitutions as the majority should 
think fit, subordinate to the state which was to be established, until other order 
shall be taken." 

The first settlers of Massachusetts were dissenters from the Church of Eng- 
land, whose greatest desire was to bring about a reform in church affairs so that 
the congregation should have more power in church government, and the minister 
should be more independent than formerly of the bishop. It was therefore 
natural that they should come in congregations, led or accompanied by their 
pastors, and that they should settle in a body. These church congregations 
obtained grants or patents, according to the second plan above mentioned, and 
set up a local government similar to that of the "tunscipe" of King Alfred's time, 
with the "town" and the "parish" practically the same. Says Forman: "Their 
town meetings were at first religious assemblages acting as pure democracies, 
except in Rhode Island, where the civil authority did not interfere in matters 
of conscience. The meetings in the colonies where the theocratic principle pre- 
vailed were usually held in a church, and all the male church members of the 
town who were of age could attend, take part in the discussions, and vote upon 
any question that might arise." 

Thus the early settlers of New England came to live in compact communities, 
which later took the name of townships or towns. They were generally people 
of a high degree of intelligence, almost equal in social rank and worldly goods, 
hence they were democratic in their ideas of government and unanimous in the 
belief that "authority in spiritual and temporal matters should flow from the 
same source." 

For some time after the first settlements were established town meetings were 
held frequently. The records show that the Town of Boston held ten town meet- 
ings in the year 1635. As the number of farms increased and the settlement 
spread over a wider territory, officers were elected to manage the town's business 
between meetings, until many of the townships came to hold meetings but once 
a year, unless some unexpected occasion arose which might require a special 
meeting. The principal officers are the board of selectmen, clerk, treasurer and 
board of assessors. In early days there was a tithing-man, a sort of "Sunday con- 
stable," whose business it was to see that everybody attended church, and to keep 
them awake during the services ; a hog reeve, who was required to see that all- 
hogs running at large had rings in their noses ; a field driver, who impounded 
stray animals ; and overseers of the poor. Some of these offices are still in exist- 
ence, but the duties of their incumbents are not so arduous as in the old colonial 
days. The early town meeting overlooked nothing. It prescribed how the school- 
master should use the rod upon unruly pupils, fixed the rate of taxation, desig- 
nated the hours that men should labor, appropriated funds for schools and high- 
ways, etc. Most of this business is now transacted by the board of selectmen. 

Beginning with the first settlements, the town system grew with New England 
and the town meeting soon became deeply rooted in the minds of the citizens. 
During the Revolution and the years immediately preceding it, the town meeting 
was the distinguishing feature of New England life. When the war began these 
little democratic communities proved to be the most powerful aids to the cause 
of liberty. In the town meeting it was easy to determine who was the patriot and 
who was the tory. Through their work military stores were provided, the cele- 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 53 

brated "minute men" were organized, and the resolutions of many of the town 
meetings expressed in no uncertain language the sentiment of the people that 
afterward found utterance in the Declaration of Independence. 

And their influence did not end with the Revolution. On December 22, 1807, 
Congress passed what was known as the "Embargo Act," to prohibit trade with 
England. Town meeting after town meeting in New England passed resolutions 
denouncing the act, which led President Jefferson to say afterward: "How 
powerfully did we feel the energy of this organization (the town) in the case 
of the Embargo. I felt the foundations of government shaken under my feet by 
the New England townships. There was not an individual in their states, whose 
body was not thrown with all its momentum into action, and although the whole 
of the other states was known to be in favor of the measure, yet the organization 
of this selfish community enabled it to overrule the Union." 

While this may sound like a criticism of the town meeting and the manner 
in which New England defeated the purposes of the Embargo Act, it does not 
express Mr. Jefferson's real sentiments as to the value and importance of the New 
England form of government. When his own State of Virginia adopted the 
county as the chief political unit, Air. Jefferson advocated the division of the 
counties into townships, and in referring to the New England system said : 
"Those wards, called townships in New England, are the vital principle of their 
governments and have proved themselves the wisest invention ever devised by the 
wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-government and for its preservation." 

Most of the southern states followed the example of Virginia and adopted the 
county system, with the result that in those states the civil township is little more 
than a name. In the West the two systems are combined. Michigan, Wisconsin 
and Minnesota, and those counties in Nebraska and Illinois that have adopted 
township organization, hold town meetings very similar to those of New England. 
In other states of the Middle West questions of incurring indebtedness for public 
improvements are submitted to the voters of the township at a general election 
instead of at a town meeting, though the principle is the same in general effect. 

When the first grants were made to church congregations or companies of 
immigrants, the thickly settled portion of the grant was known as the "town" 
and the outlying, uninhabited portion as the "township." In time, as settlement 
was extended to these outlying lands, the last syllable was dropped and the name 
"town" was adopted for the entire district. The towns were incorporated by the 
colonial legislature, which was the only authority with power to create new towns, 
and this system has been in operation in Massachusetts for nearly three centuries. 
As a matter of experience, local government in New England has undergone 
some changes with the constantly changing conditions. Thickly settled parts 
of the towns in some of the New England states have in many cases been incor- 
porated as villages or boroughs, the people surrendering a portion of the business 
to municipal authorities or agents, though in Massachusetts the town meeting is 
still the chief source of power in the adjustment of local public affairs. 

Not only has the township been the dominant force in local government, but 
it has also been an important factor in shaping the destinies of the state and 
nation. In the old Anglo-Saxon "tunscipe" the principal officer — the "tun reeve"' 
— the parish priest and "four discreet laymen" were delegates to the "shire moot" 
or county meeting, at which the views of the people regarding county affairs were 



54 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

ascertained through their chosen representatives. This system was extended by 
the Parliaments of 1265 and 1295, concerning which Fiske says: "These dates 
have as much interest for Americans as for Englishmen, because they mark the 
first definitive establishment of that grand system of representative government 
which we are still carrying on at our various state capitals and at Washington. 
For its humble beginnings we have to look back to the 'reeve and four' of the 
ancient townships to the county meetings." 

In the early history of New England the township was not only the dominant 
force in questions of a local nature, as a self-governing body politic, but it was 
also the unit of representation in the colonial legislature or General Court. In 
modern times the unit of representation has been modified to some extent, but in 
many localities the township forms the basis of representation in the conventions 
of political parties, thus the township, besides managing its own affairs, wields 
?.n influence upon state and national politics. 

In Norfolk County there are twenty-eight towns, to wit : Avon, Bellingham, 
Braintree, Brookline, Canton, Cohasset, Dedham, Dover, Foxborough, Franklin, 
Holbrook, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Milton, Needham, Norfolk, Norwood, 
Plainville, Ouincy, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, Wellesley, Westwood, 
Weymouth and Wrentham. A history of each of these towns is given in the suc- 
ceeding chapters. 



CHAPTER IX 
THE TOWN OF AVON 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES — PETITION FOR INCORPORATION — IN THE LEGISLA- 
TURE — EXTENDING THE BOUNDARIES — WATERWORKS TOWN HALL — MISCEL- 
LANEOUS FACTS ABOUT AVON. 

The territory comprising the Town of Avon was originally included in that 
part of Dorchester known as the "New Grant." When Stoughton was incor- 
porated on December 22, 1726, it embraced the present Town of Avon and exer- 
cised jurisdiction over it for nearly one hundred and sixty-two years, hence the 
early history of Avon is given in the chapter on Stoughton. The town is located 
in the southern part of the county, being bounded on the north and west by 
Stoughton ; on the east by Randolph and Holbrook, and on the south by Plymouth 
County. 

PETITION FOR INCORPORATION 

On December 2, 1887, the following petition was published in the Stoughton 
Record, the result of a movement started some months prior to that time for 
the establishment of a new town: 

"To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts, in General Court assembled : 

"The undersigned petitioners, citizens of Stoughton, Norfolk County, respect- 
fully represent that we desire all that part of Stoughton east of the following 
described lines to be incorporated into a town separate from Stoughton, to be 

called . Said lines to be the Old Colony Railroad commencing at the 

southerly line of the Town of Randolph and running southwesterly to a point 
where the Boston & Taunton Turnpike, so called, crosses said Old Colony Rail- 
road, and from thence the Boston & Taunton Turnpike to be the line to the 
City of Brockton." 

This petition was signed by D. H. Blanchard, Hiram Blanchard, Alva M. 
Butler, Charles H. Felker, D. C. G. Field, S. S. Gifford, James Keith, G. F. Little- 
field, L. G. Littlefield, Gilbert Littlefield, George W. Robbins, George J. Smith 
and H. H. Tucker. 

IN THE LEGISLATURE 

This petition came before the House of Representatives on February 1, 1888, 
and was referred to the committee on towns, which reported favorably, and a" 
bill granting the prayer of the petitioners was passed and sent to the senate. 

55 



56 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

It passed that body and was approved on February 21, 1888. Section 1 of the 
bill reads as follows : 

"All that territory now the Town of Stoughton, in the County of Norfolk, 
comprised within the following limits, that is to say : Beginning at a point 
on the easterly line of Stoughton, where the Old Colony Railroad crosses said 
easterly line ; thence southwesterly along the westerly side of the Old Colony 
Railroad about four hundred and sixty rods to a point on the westerly side of 
the culvert where Saulisbury Brook passes under said railroad ; thence in a straight 
line south about five hundred and thirty-two rods to the westerly side of Oak 
Street, where it intersects South Street ; thence southerly again along the westerly 
side of Oak Street about seventy-five rods to the Brockton line; thence along 
said Brockton line about six hundred and eighty-seven and one-half rods to 
the Holbrook line ; thence in a straight line northerly about eight hundred and 
ninety-four rods along the Holbrook line and the Randolph line to the point of 
beginning, is hereby incorporated as a town by the name of Avon, and said Town 
of Avon is hereby invested with all the powers, privileges, rights and immuni- 
ties, and made subject to all the duties, liabilities and requisitions to which other 
towns are entitled or subjected by the constitution and laws of this Common- 
wealth." 

Sections 2 to 6 inclusive refer to the division of the town property, appor- 
tioning the town debt, relief of paupers, etc. Section 7 places the new town 
in the Second Congressional District, the Second Councillor District, the Second 
Norfolk Senatorial District and the Seventh Norfolk Representative District. 

Section 8 provides that "any justice of the peace in the County of Norfolk 
may issue his warrant directed to any inhabitant of the Town of Avon requiring 
him to notify and warn the inhabitants thereof qualified to vote in town affairs 
to meet at the time and place therein appointed for the purpose of choosing all 
such town officers as towns are by law authorized and required to choose at their 
annual meetings," etc. 

EXTENDING THE BOUNDARIES 

Soon after the town was organized under the provisions of the above act, 
an agitation was commenced for the acquisition of certain tracts of land in the 
towns of Randolph and Holbrook. A petition asking for the annexation of these 
lands to Avon was presented to the next session of the Legislature, with the result 
that the following act was passed and approved on April 16, 1889: 

"So much of the towns of Randolph and Holbrook, in the County of Nor- 
folk, with all the inhabitants and estates thereon, as is thus bounded and described, 
to wit : Beginning at a stone bound on the westerly side of Main Street in the 
boundary line between said towns of Randolph and Avon (formerly Stoughton) 
marked *R' on one side and 'S' on the opposite side, and thence running in a 
straight line over territorial land of said Randolph and of said Holbrook midway 
between the two main tracks of the Old Colony Railroad as now existing and 
distant north, sixteen degrees and fifteen minutes east, six hundred and ninety- 
four and eight-tenths feet from the southerly side line of High Street in said 
Holbrook ; thence running south, sixteen degrees and fifteen minutes west, mid- 
way between said tracks, one thousand five hundred and sixteen and four-tenths 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 57 

feet to a point of curvature in said Holbrook and intersecting said southerly- 
line of High Street at a point distant south, fifty-six degrees and thirteen minutes 
east, one hundred and sixty-seven and seventy-two hundredths feet from a stone 
bound set in the southerly line of High Street ; thence running by a curve to the left 
of five thousand seven hundred and thirty feet radius, one thousand three hundred 
and twenty-three and forty-five hundredths feet to a point of tangency in Hol- 
brook ; thence running midway between said tracks south, three degrees and one 
minute we^t, five hundred and thirty-five and forty-five hundredths feet to the 
boundary line between said towns of Holbrook and Avon ; thence running north- 
westerly by said boundary line between the towns of Randolph, Holbrook and 
Avon to the point of beginning, containing an area of about fourteen acres of 
the territory of the said Town of Randolph and about one hundred and thirty 
acres of the territory of the said Town of Holbrook, is hereby set off and sepa- 
rated from the said towns of Randolph and Holbrook and annexed to the said 
Town of Avon.'' 

The reason for this enlargement of the town was to give it access to railway 
facilities. The Old Colony Railroad mentioned in the above act is now the 
Boston & Middleboro division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford rail- 
way system, which covers a large part of New England. Avon station was 
established soon after the boundary of the town was extended to the railroad. 

WATERWORKS 

Soon after the town was incorporated a movement was inaugurated to estab- 
lish a system of waterworks. A petition was presented to the Legislature asking 
for authority to issue bonds for that purpose and on April 9, 1889, the governor 
approved an act empowering the Town of Avon "to supply itself and its inhabi- 
tants with water for the extinguishment of fires and for domestic and other pur- 
poses," etc., and to take "by purchase or otherwise and hold the waters of Porter's 
Brook or spring in said town." The act also authorized the town to borrow not 
more than thirty thousand dollars, issue bonds therefore and provide a sinking 
fund for their redemption when due, said act to take effect upon its acceptance 
"by a two-thirds vote of the voters of said Town of Avon at a legal town meeting 
within three years after its passage.'' 

The conditions imposed by the act were accepted by the required two-thirds 
vote, Lewis Hawes of Boston was employed as chief engineer, and the water- 
works were constructed in 1889-90. Wells were sunk to obtain a supply of water 
and a pumping station was installed. The standpipe, twenty feet in diameter 
and ninety feet high, was built by E. Hodge & Company of Boston. It has a 
capacity of 212,670 gallons and the average pressure of the system is sixty-five 
pounds to the square inch. Up to December 31, 1912, the total cost of the plant 
was $83,324.09 and the aggregate amount of bonds issued was $69,500. There 
were then eight miles of mains. Since that time some extensions have been made 
and the bonds have nearly all" been paid. The works are owned by the town. 

TOWN HALL 

.V 

On October 18, 19 12. the town hall was damaged by fire to the amount of 
$1,500 and the contents to the amount of $1,500. The building was erected a few 



58 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

years after the incorporation of the town at a cost of about three thousand dollars. 
It contains a hall for holding town meetings, offices for the town officials and 
quarters for the fire company. At the time of the fire the town carried $2,000 in- 
surance on the building and $1,200 on the contents. The damage to the building 
was quickly repaired, but the loss of records renders it impossible to ascertain the 
original cost or just when the structure was completed. 

MISCELLANEOUS FACTS ABOUT AVON 

Avon is the smallest town in Norfolk County. It is an agricultural community 
and has no manufacturing establishments of importance. In addition to the trans- 
portation facilities furnished by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- 
road, the Milton & Brockton division of the Bay State Street Railway Company 
traverses the town, connecting it with practically all the principal places in Norfolk 
County. Cars run on this line every thirty minutes. 

The first board of selectmen was composed of Hiram Blanchard, George W. 
Robbins and Bartlett Collins, who also served as the first town assessors. George 
J. Smith was the first town clerk, and James Keith the first treasurer. In 191 7 the 
town officers were as follows : John F. Geary, Frederick P. Bodwell and Fred- 
erick A. Parmenter, selectmen; John J. Collins, clerk; William W. Littlefield, 
treasurer; John F. Geary, Frederick A. Parmenter and Fred P. Whitten, assessors. 

In the principal square stands a neat monument of granite bearing the in- 
scription : 

In Grateful Remembrance 

of the men 

of Avon 

Who fought to 

Save the Union 

1861-1865 

Above the inscription are two crossed swords carved in bas relief, and on the 
top of the monument is the figure of an infantry soldier. Avon was a part of 
Stoughton at the time of the Civil War, but the monument commemorates the 
gallant deeds of those who went from that part of Stoughton now comprising 
Avon. On the die of the monument is the following: 

Presented by 

Orlando Leach 

To the Town of Avon 

MDCCCCV 

In the southeastern part of the town is Highland Park, one of the beauty spots 
of Norfolk County. It is on the electric railway line 'running from Avon to Brock- 
ton and is a favorite resort for persons who desire a day's outing amid peaceful 
surroundings. 

On the covers of the annual town reports is a small portrait of William Shake- 
speare, indicating that the town derives its name from the birthplace of the im- 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 59 

mortal bard— "Stratford-on-Avon" in England. The Avon of today has two 
modern public school buildings, a well drilled and equipped fire company, a public 
library, Baptist and Catholic churches, and a number of cozy homes. The popu- 
lation in 1910 was 2,013 and in 1915, according to the state census, it was 2,164, 
an increase of 151 in five years. The assessed valuation of property in 19 15 was 
$1,119,847. 



CHAPTER X 
THE TOWN OF BELLINGHAM 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN — FIRST SETTLEMENT — DIVIDING THE LAND 

INCORPORATION — FIRST TOWN MEETING — A BOUNDARY DISPUTE TROUBLE WITH 

THE GENERAL COURT — A COINCIDENCE — NEW STATE GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO 

FORM A NEW TOWN TOWN HALL WATERWORKS VITAL STATISTICS ODD 

LEGISLATION THE BELLINGHAM OF TODAY. 

Bellingham is the most western town of Norfolk County. It is 'bounded on 
the north by the Town of Medway ; on the east by Franklin and Wrentham ; on 
the south by the State of Rhode Island; and on the west by Worcester County. 
The surface is generally uneven, though there are no large elevations in the town. 
The Charles River flows across the northern part, the Peters River rises near the 
center and flows in a southerly direction into Rhode Island. Its principal trib- 
utary is the Bungay Brook, which rises in Wrentham. North of the Charles River 
and connected with it by a small stream is Beaver Pond, and in the southern part 
is another pond of considerable size called Jenks' Reservoir. There are also a 
few smaller ponds drained by the Peters River. 

FIRST SETTLEMENT 

From the best authority at hand, it is believed that the first white man to locate 
within the limits of the present Town of Bellingham was Jacob Bartlett. Follow- 
ing the custom of the time, Mr. Bartlett selected a tract of land some time in the 
summer of 1713 and erected a cabin, to which he moved his family. Land was 
then plentiful and such a thing as acquiring it by purchase was almost unknown. 
On October 27, 1713, the proprietors of the Town of Dedham, of which the 
territory was then a part, granted thirty-five acres to Jacob Bartlett. This grant 
is the first official mention in the records of the region now included within the 
town limits of Bellingham. 

During the fall of 1713 and the following winter, several families settled near 
the Charles River. That no confusion should arise regarding the possession of 
the land, a crown warrant was issued early in February, 1714, the return upon 
which was as follows : 

"In pursuance of a warrant to me directed by John Chandler, Esq., one of 
her Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Suffolk, these are to give 
public notice that a meeting of the proprietors of that tract of land belonging to 
Dedham lying between Wrentham, Mendon and Providence is appointed to be 
held and kept at the house of Deacon Thomas Sanford, in Mendon, on the 
eleventh day of March next ensuing, at eight o'clock in the morning, then and 

60 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 61 

then to agree upon a division of land and what relates thereunto, of which all 
persons concerned are to take notice and give attendance accordingly. Dated this 
twenty-fifth day of February, A.D., 17 14. 

"Jonathan Wight, Constable." 

Between the time the warrant was issued and the day of the meeting, the 
land was divided into lots or parcels containing from twenty to sixty acres each. 
On the appointed day the residents in that part of the present County of Norfolk 
assembled at Mr. Sanford's house and the meeting was organized by the election 
of John Ware of Wrentham, moderator, and Thomas Sanford, clerk. Slips of 
paper were prepared, each bearing the number of a certain lot of land, and the 
slips were then placed in a box and thoroughly mixed. Each settled then drew 
a slip, which entitled him to the tract of land bearing the same number. The 
highest number was 121, indicating that there were then that number of actual 
or prospective settlers in the district. 

INCORPORATION 

The five years immediately following the distribution of land witnessed the 
influx of quite a number of new settlers. In the summer of 1719, owing to the 
great distance from Dedham, where the inhabitants had to go to attend church 
and transact their business with the town authorities, a movement was started 
for the establishment of a new town. A petition was accordingly prepared, ad- 
dressed to "His Excellency Samuel Shute, Esq., Captain-General and Governor 
in Chief in and over his Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New 
England, and to the Honourable Council and House of Representatives in General 
Court convened at Boston." 

After setting forth in detail the reasons for asking that a new town be created, 
the inconveniences to which the inhabitants of the territory was subjected, etc., the 
petition closed as follows : 

"Our Prayer Therefore is that your Honours would Graciously plese to con- 
sider our Difficulty Circumstances and grant us our petition, which is That ye 
above mentioned Tracts of Land (as by one Piatt heretofore affixed & Described) 
may be incorporated together & made a Town & Invested with Town Preveliges. 
That we may be Inabled in Conveniant Time to obtain ye Gospel & Public Worship 
of God settled, & our Inconveniances by Reason of our Remoateness be Re- 
moved ; granting us such Time of Dispence from Public Taxes as in wisdom you 
shall think Conveniant, & in your so doing you will greatly oblige us who am your 
Humble petitioners : and for your Honours, as in Consciance we are Bound, 
Shall ever pray. 

"Dated ye 17th Day of November, 1719." 

The petition was signed by Richard Blood, Thomas Burch, Nicholas Cook, 
Nicholas Cook, Jr., Seth Cook, Daniel Corbet, John Corbet, Cornelius Darling, 
John Darling, Samuel Darling, Zuriel Hall, Jonathan Hayward, Oliver Hayward, 
Samuel Hayward, William Hayward, Eliphalet Holbrook John Holbrook, Joseph 
Holbrook, Peter Holbrook, Inheritance of Mendon, John March, Samuel Rich, 
James Smith, Pelatiah Smith. Samuel Smith, Ebenezer Thayer, Isaac Thayer, 
Ebenezer Thompson, John Thompson, John Thompson, Jr., Joseph Thompson, 
Samuel Thompson and Nathaniel Weatherby. 



62 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

The plat submitted with the petition showed "a Tract of Land belonging to 
Dedham, westward of Wrentham, and a small Corner of Mendon adjacent 
Thereto." On November 26, 1719, the petition was read in the lower house of 
the General Court and that body ''Ordered that the prayer of the petitioners be 
granted, and that a township be erected and constituted according thereunto and 
the plat above : Provided they procure and settled a learned orthodox minister 
within the space of three years now coming." 

It was further enacted that "John Darling, John Thompson and John Marsh 
be Impowered to call a Town Meeting any time in March next to choose Town 
Officers & manage ye other prudentiall affairs of ye Town. The name of the 
Town to be called Bellingham." The upper house concurred in this action the 
next day, so that the Town of Bellingham dates its corporate existence from 
November 27, 1719. The name was no doubt chosen as a mark of respect for 
Sir Richard Bellingham, who was one of the early colonial governors of Massa- 
chusetts. 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

The commissioners named in the act of incorporation — Darling, Thompson 
and Marsh — issued a call for a town meeting to be held at the house of John 
Thompson on March 2, 1720. Pelatiah Smith was chosen moderator, and the 
following town officers were elected : Selectmen, John Darling, Pelatiah Smith, 
John Thompson, John Corbett and Nathaniel Jilson ; Clerk, Pelatiah Smith ; 
Treasurer, John Holbrook ; Tithingmen, John Marsh and Nicholas Cook ; Con- 
stables, Nicholas Cook and William Hay ward ; Hog reeves, "for the due observ- 
ance of swine," Oliver Hayward and Samuel Darling. 

Bellingham did not actually obtain a corporate charter by the act of November 
27, 1719, but the people were authorized to form a town government which 
should become fully operative if they established a church and installed a min- 
ister within three years. This provision came before the first town meeting. 
John Darling, Nicholas Cook, Sr., John Corbet and John Holbrook were ap- 
pointed a committee to select a location for the meeting house, and another com- 
mittee, consisting of Nathaniel Jilson, Nicholas Cook, John Corbet and Pelatiah 
Smith was appointed to build the house, "so far as the covering and inclosing are 
concerned." 

On November 14, 1720, the committee on location reported at a town meeting 
held at the house of John Thompson — "That the meeting house should be sett 
whare thare is a Stake standing near Weatherly's corner, with a heap of stones 
Laid about said Stake and a pine tree marked ; said Stake Standing in an old 
Road that goes from Mendon to Wrentham, the Demension of the meeting house 
to be : f ourty foott long thirty foott wide, Eighteen foott Between Joynts. The 
Stated price for Laborers for a Narrow axx man finding himself tow shillings and 
a sixpence per day, Broad axx man three shillings pr day, finding themselves." 

The location thus selected for the meeting house is a short distance north of 
the Charles River, near the site of the village of Crimpville, which afterward 
grew up there. The building was evidently inclosed some time in the summer or 
early fall of 1 721, for on November, 23, 1721, a town meeting voted that the 
meeting house should be lathed and plastered with white lime and that an aisle 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 63 

four feet wide should be left through the center and aisles four feet wide between 
the ends of the seats and the sides of the building. In January, 1723, the town 
voted to give fifty acres of land to the first minister who would settle in the 
town and not long afterward Rev. Thomas Smith accepted the offer and entered 
upon his duties as pastor of the church. Bellingham then became fully incorpo- 
rated according to the provision of the act, though a little more than three years 
elapsed before a regular minister was settled. 

A BOUNDARY DISPUTE 

In 1723 a difference of opinion arose between the people of Bellingham and 
those of Wrentham as to the actual location of the boundary line dividing the two 
towns, and some ill feeling was developed before the question was finally settled. 
Bellingham appointed a committee to carry the matter before the court, and a tax 
was levied upon the cattle of the town to defray the expenses. A little later the 
town sold one hundred and fifty acres of common land, for which the sum of one 
hundred and forty pounds was obtained, practically all of which was expended 
in making a survey and securing the establishment of the line as it stands at the 
present time. 

TROUBLE WITH THE GENERAL COURT 

So far as can be gleaned from the records, the first call for a member of the 
General Court was made on Bellingham in 1755, but the town meeting voted not 
to send a representative, on the grounds that the people could not afford the 
expense. The General Court appears to have been incensed at the action of the 
meeting and fined the town for its disobedience of orders. When the people of 
Bellingham learned of the fine another town meeting was called, but the only 
action taken was to petition the General Court for an abatement of the fine and 
voted the sum of two pounds and ten shillings to defray the expense of carrying 
the petition to the Court. At the same meeting it was decided to assess the sol- 
diers who enlisted in the King's service and the people pledged themselves to stand 
by the assessors in levying a tax on said soldiers. It is not shown by the records 
that the tax was ever collected and the assessment probably was a "dead letter." 

Early in the year 1757 the General Court again made a demand on Belling- 
ham for a representative, but at the May meeting the town again "voted in the 
negative" and no representative. No fine was imposed upon the town in this in- 
stance, but when in April, 1761, Bellingham again voted not to send a represent- 
ative a small fine was levied against the town. A year later another demand was 
made for a delegate, but the town meeting declined "by a large vote." 

Although refusing to send a representative to the General Court, the people 
of Bellingham recognized the authority of that body and cheerfully endeavored to 
observe the laws. At least in one instance they called upon the Court to settle 
a local dispute. At a town meeting held on March 6, 1764, officers for the en- 
suing year were elected. Nine days later another meeting (or an adjourned 
meeting) undertook to annul the action of the former one and elected another 
set of officers. Nineteen citizens signed a protest against this second election 
and sent it up to the General Court, with their reasons therefor. The Legislature 



64 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

decided that the election of March 6th was legal and the subsequent action of the 
adjourned meeting null and void, "much to the satisfaction of the officers first 
chosen." 

At the March meeting in 1773, "the condition of the country being in an un- 
settled state, and the town being greatly inconvenienced by the excessive taxation, 
a committee consisting of John Metcalf, John Corbett, Samuel Scott, William 
Holbrook and Benjamin Partridge was chosen to look into the condition of affairs 
and report at the next meeting." If the committee ever reported it was not made 
a matter of record. 

About this time, the town being so negligent about sending a representative 
to the General Court, another fine was imposed and a petition of abatement was 
sent as payment. It seems that none of the fines had ever been paid and the town 
had been at some expense in the matter of petitioning for their remission. In the 
case just mentioned, the Legislature gave no immediate attention to the petition 
and the town records that on October 22, 1773, when the question came be- 
fore a town meeting it was "Put to vote to see if the town will send to Court any 
more to get the fines off that we are fined for not sending a Representative in 
years passed. Decided in the negative." 

At the beginning of the year 1774 the colonies were almost in a state of 
revolution against the excessive taxation levied by the mother country. In May 
of that year the people of Bellingham voted to send a committee to the General 
Court to explain their poverty and ask that the town be assessed for a less amount, 
as well as that the fines imposed upon them for their failure to send a represent- 
ative be remitted. This committee met with better success than its predecessors 
and the fines were abated, restoring good feeling between the Bellingham people 
and the colonial authorities. On September 2, 1774, a town meeting voted "the 
sum of nineteen shillings to the General Court, to assist in carrying on expenses." 
At the same meeting it was agreed that the citizens of the town would purchase 
no goods imported from England, and the sum of five pounds was voted for 
ammunition. 

On September 30, 1774, Luke Holbrook was elected as Bellingham's "first 
delegate" to attend the Provincial Congress at Concord on the second Tuesday of 
the following month. Seven pounds additional were voted on December 19, 
1774, "for the purchase of powder and bullets." The action of the people of 
Bellingham for the purchase of ammunition and the boycott of English goods 
shows clearly where their sympathies lay in the difference of opinion between 
the American colonies and the mother country, and from this time forward there 
was no controversy with the Massachusetts General Court. 

A COINCIDENCE 

On July 4, 1776, a town meeting was held in Bellingham for. the purpose of 
discussing general conditions and determining upon a definite course to be followed 
in case of a rupture between the British Government and the English colonies in 
America. Almost at the same hour that the Declaration of Independence was 
adopted by the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, the Bellingham town meeting 
declared : "That in case the Honorable Continental Congress shall think it neces- 
sary for the safety of the United Colonies to declare them independent of Great 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 65 

Britain, the inhabitants of this town, with their lives and fortunes, will cheerfully 
support them in the measure." 

And the declaration was no idle boast. When the news of Lexington and 
Concord reached the little town in the southwest corner of what is now Norfolk 
County (then a part of Suffolk), the people of Bellingham were ready. Out of 
her meager population ninety-three men served in the Continental army during 
the Revolution and fought to achieve their independence. 

NEW STATE GOVERNMENT 

On September 17, 1776, the General Court sent to the several towns in the 
state a communication asking opinions regarding the formation of a new state 
government, with such suggestions as the people felt inclined to submit. Belling- 
ham was not at all backward about expressing her ideas on the subject. At a 
town meeting held on October 20, 1776, Dr. John Corbett, Coroner John Metcalf, 
Elder Noah Alden, Deacon Samuel Darling and Lieut. Seth Hall were appointed 
a committee to prepare the town's reply and report at an adjourned meeting on 
the first Monday in December. The report, which was adopted at the adjourned 
meeting, was as follows : 

"We are of the opinion that the settling a form of government for this State 
is a matter of the greatest importance of a civil nature that we were ever con- 
cerned in, and ought to be proceeded in with the greatest caution and deliberation. 
It appears to us that the late General Assembly of this State, in their proclamation 
dated January 23, 1776, have well expressed that 'power always resides in the 
body of the people.' We understand that all males above twenty-one years of 
age, meeting in each separate town and acting the same thing and all their 
acts united together make an act of the body of the people. We apprehend it 
would be proper that the form of government for this State to originate in each 
town, and by that means we may have the ingenuity of all the State, and it may 
qualify men for public station, which might be effected if the present Honorable 
House of Representatives would divide this State into districts of about thirty 
miles in diameter, or less if it appear most convenient, so that none be more than 
fifteen miles from the center of the district, that there may be an easy com- 
munication between each town and the center of its district, that no town be di- 
vided, and that each town choose one man out of each thirty inhabitants to be a 
committee to meet as near the center of the district as may be; to meet about six 
weeks after the House of Representatives have issued their order for the towns 
to meet and draw a form of government, and the same committee to carry with 
them the form of government their town has drawn at the district meeting and 
compare them together, and propose to their towns what alteration their town in 
their opinion ought to make, and said committee in each district adjourn to carry 
to their several towns and lay before them in town meeting for that' end, the 
form of government said district has agreed to, and the town agrees to or alters 
as they see meet; after which each district committee to choose a man as a com- 
mittee to meet all as one committee at Watertown at twelve weeks after the order 
of the House of Representatives for the town first meeting to draw a form of 
government, which committee of the whole State may be empowered to send 
precepts to the several towns in this State to choose one man out of sixty to 



66 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

meet in convention at Watertown, or such other town as each committee shall 
judge best. Six weeks from the time of said district's last sitting the said one 
man out of sixty to meet in convention to draw from the forms of government 
drawn by each district committee one form of government for the whole State; 
after which said convention to send to each town the form of government 
they have drawn for the town's confirmation or alteration, then adjourn, notify- 
ing each town to make return to them of their doings at said convention, and at 
said adjournment said convention draw a general plan or form of government 
for this State, so that they add nothing nor diminish nothing from the general 
sense of each town, and that each town be at the charge of all they employ in the 
affair." 

Although the language used in this report might be improved on, its purport 
is clear and shows how zealously the early colonists guarded the right of local self- 
government as the very corner-stone of their political liberty. Rev. Noah Alden, 
pastor of the Baptist Church, was elected a delegate from Bellingham to the 
constitutional convention which met at Cambridge on September I, 1779, and part 
of his instructions was to see "that each part of the State have properly delegated 
their power for such a purpose, and that a bill of rights be framed wherein the 
natural rights of individuals be clearly ascertained — 'that is, all such rights as the 
supreme power of the State shall have no authority to control — to be a part 
of the Constitution." 

The idea carried by these instructions was not peculiar to Bellingham. It 
pervaded all the colonies. In a modified form it was applied in the adoption of the 
Federal Constitution, which was submitted to the several states for ratification, 
and in every one of the forty-eight states of the American Union the State consti- 
tution was submitted to the people for their approval or rejection before it became 
effective. 

EFFORTS TO FORM A NEW TOWN 

Owing to the inconvenience in attending the town meetings at Bellingham 
Centre, some of the citizens living in the northern portion of the town started 
a movement in 1807 to form a new town by taking parts of Bellingham, Franklin, 
Medway and Holliston, the last named in Midlesex County. A petition to that 
effect was sent to the Legislature, which appointed a committee to view the terri- 
tory. The committee reported adversely and the matter was dropped for the 
time. 

In 1816 the question again came before the Legislature and the standing com- 
mittee on towns in the House of Representatives reported favorably, providing 
the boundaries asked for in the petition were changed so as to take a smaller 
portion of Bellingham. To this proposition the petitioners would not assent and 
the petition was then denied by the Legislature. 

Eight years later the subject was again agitated and several hearings were 
granted by the General Court, but nothing definite was accomplished. In May, 
1824, another petition came before the Legislature asking for the erection of a new 
town with the following boundaries: "Beginning at the Milford line on the 
northerly side of Nahum Clark's farm, and running easterly, including said farm 
and across the land of Henry Adams, to a stake and stones on the northerly side 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 67 

of a town road; thence across said road to the northest corner of the Adams farm; 
thence to a white oak tree standing on the east side of the road, about twenty- 
rods north of Capt. Jonathan Harding's barn ; thence to the south side of the 
farm belonging to the estate of A. Morse, opposite his dwelling house ; thence to 
continue in a straight line on the southerly side of Morse's farm to the Pond road, 
so called ; thence running southerly on said road about twenty-five rods ; thence 
easterly in a straight line along the south side of Capt. M. Rockwood's home farm 
to the old grant line (so called) ; thence southerly on said line and Candle wood 
Island road (so called) to the old county road; thence running southerly across 
said road and Charles River to the end of a road near Amos Fisher's house in 
Franklin; thence southwesterly on said road to a town road leading from the 
factory village in Medway to Franklin meeting house ; thence to the corner of the 
road near the house of Joseph Bacon; thence, following said road by Luther Ellis' 
house, to the southeasterly corner of Leonard Lawrence's land on the westerly side 
of said road ; thence to the southeast corner of Stephen Allen's meadow land ; 
thence westerly across Mine Brook to a white oak tree on the line between 
Bellingham and Franklin; thence westerly on a division line of lands of Stephen 
Metcalf and Jesse Coombs to a town road in Bellingham; thence westerly across 
Charles River to a stake and stones beside the turnpike road west of Elijah Dew- 
ing's barn ; thence crossing said road and running northwesterly to a town road on 
the division line of Nathan Allen and Benjamin R. Partridge, easterly from said 
Allen's house; thence northerly on said division line to the Holliston town line; 
thence running westerly on Holliston s line to farm corner (so called) ; thence 
northerly on the town line of Milford to the corner first mentioned." 

Doubtless many of the land marks mentioned have disappeared and the owner- 
ship of farms changed until it would be extremely difficult, if not utterly im- 
possible, to trace the boundaries of this proposed town. The prayer of the 
petitioners was refused by the Legislature and no further efforts were made to 
divide the Town of Bellingham, consequently its boundaries remain as they were 
established when the dispute with Wrentham was settled in 1724. 

TOWN HALL 

In 1800, the town experiencing some difficulty in obtaining the use of the 
meeting house for public meetings, appointed Ezekiel Bates, Eliab Wight, John 
Scammell and Laban Bates a committee "to examine into and report upon the 
feasibility of constructing a new building and finding a suitable location there- 
for." The committee reported as follows : 

"We are of the opinion that the most central and convenient spot for erecting 
said building is on the land occupied by David Jones, situated at the end of the 
road leading from Ezekiel Bates' dwelling house to the road known as the 
Taunton Road, and is bounded partly on the west by the said Taunton Road. 
The said Jones proposes giving the town one acre of land for the purpose of 
setting said house and other buildings upon, provided said town will agree to 
erect such a building as will best accommodate the religious society in said town 
for a house of public worship." 

About the time this report was submitted Joseph Fairbanks, who had pre- 
viously set up a saw and grist mill on the Charles River, associated with him 
several of his neighbors and made the following- offer to the town : 



68 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

"Bellingham, March 15, A. D. 1800. 
"We, the undersigned, do hereby propose to the inhabitants of said Belling- 
ham that we will undertake the building of a public house in said town for the 
purpose of better accommodating said inhabitants to transact their public con- 
cerns in. We propose said house to be forty-five by fifty feet on the ground, 
twenty-five feet posts, and one porch fourteen feet square, which shall be built 
of good materials and be well wrought; providing said town will grant the sum of 
one thousand dollars, five hundred to be assessed and paid into the treasury for 
the above purpose by the first day of April, 1801, and the other five hundred 
to be paid by April 1, 1802, and also to grant us the privilege of building pews in 
said house for the accommodation of the religious society in said town, and 
giving us the benefit of the sale of said pews to defray in part the expense of 
said building; and if the above proposals shall be accepted by a vote of said town, 
we do hereby jointly and severally agree and engage completely to finish said 
house without any other expense to said town, and we will give bonds to indem- 
nify for the above purpose. 

"In testimony whereof we have hereto set our hands. 

"Joseph Fairbanks "Samuel Darling, Jr. 

"Laban Bates "John Scammei.l 

"Eliab Wight "John Chilson 

"Simeon Holbrook "Elisha Burr 

"Seth Holbrook "Stephen Metcalf, Jr." 

At a meeting held in the following September, the proposition of these ten 
public-spirited men was accepted and work commenced upon the building. 
It was completed in 1802 and was dedicated in December of that year, Rev. 
Thomas Baldwin of Boston preaching the dedicatory sermon. That the builders 
did their work well may be seen from the fact that the building, although more 
than a century old, is still used as the town hall and is well preserved. 

waterworks 

From the first settlement of the town, the people have depended upon wells 
for their supply of water for domestic purposes. At the town meeting of March 
6, 1916, it was unanimously voted "That the town do establish a system for 
supplying the inhabitants of the town residing in the villages of North Belling- 
ham, Caryville and South Bellingham with water, and that Addison E. Bullard, 
Cornelius W. Fitzpatrick, Timothy E. Foley, Hadley D. Perkins and Ervin 
E. Biglow be appointed a committee with authority to construct such system and 
lay pipes, and to make contracts in relation to the same in the name and behalf 
of the town." 

The sum of $150 was appropriated for the use of the committee in securing 
expert advice, etc. Plans were drawn and specifications prepared for two water 
systems — one in the north end and the other in the south end — the former to be 
connected with the Medway water system and the latter with that of Woonsocket, 
Rhode Island. Owing to the prevailing high prices of materials nothing further 
was done by the committee, though the people in the two districts are still hope- 
ful that the near future will find them provided with waterworks. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 69 

POSTOFFICES . . 

Early in the year 1837 the people of the town sent a petition to the Post Office 
Department asking that an office be established at Bellingham Centre, and recom- 
mended Rev. Joseph T. Massey for the position of postmaster. Later in the year 
the office was established under the name of "Bellingham" and Mr. Massey was 
appointed. For many years this office had but one mail a day from Boston. 

In the extreme northeast corner of the town is the village of Caryville, named 
after William H. Cary who was at one time a resident of that locality. A post- 
office was established here a few years after the one at the "Centre," with two daily 
mails from Boston, one from Milford and one from Medway. At the beginning 
of the year 1917 the postoffices of the town were those at Bellingbam, Caryville 
and North Bellingham. Many of the inhabitants receive mail daily by rural 
carrier. 

VITAL STATISTICS 

The earliest birth noted in the vital records of Bellingham is that of "Eleze- 
bath, daughter of Zuriell and Susanah Hall," who was born on June 8, 1688, 
while the town was still a part of Dedham and Mendon. The earliest recorded 
marriage is that of Pliny Holbrook and Martha Perkins, which was solemnized 
on May 7, 1726. Walter Cook and Margery Corbet were married on the 17th of 
October in the same year. The date of the earliest death given in the vital 
records is March 26, 1720, when Elizabeth, daughter of Peter and Hannah 
Holbrook, died. In the old cemetery stands the gravestone of Josiah Corbet, 
the inscription showing that he died in 1705, but his name does not appear in the 
records. Near by is the gravestone of John Corbet [Corbett], who died in 1706. 

ODD LEGISLATION 

Exercising the privilege of the New England township conferred by the 
General Court, Bellingham frequently issued orders or edicts having all the 
force of local laws, and provided penalties for their violation. In April, 1777, 
Silas Penniman fell ill and it was reported he had the smallpox. A town meeting 
was hurriedly called and it was voted to establish a hospital "in the -woods." 
The records of that meeting also show that it was "Voted that the town forbid 
any person from having the smallpox in the house of Daniel or Silas Penniman, 
except said Silas, now sick, and if any person or persons be so presumptuous as 
to have the smallpox in either of them two houses they shall forfeit to the town 
ten pounds, to be recovered by the treasurer." 

In the spring of 1791 the smallpox again made its appearance and the question 
came up in the town meeting "to see if the town will provide a house for the 
inoculation of the smallpox, and voted no." The people of that day had little 
faith in the efficacy of vaccination, but the meeting voted "that the town disap- 
prove of the Smallpox coming into the town Contrary to Law." 

During the next forty-five years public opinion underwent a change, for when 
another epidemic of smallpox came in 1836 an appropriation was made for a hos- 



70 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

pital on the town farm and one hundred and fifty dollars were expended for 
vaccination. 

THE BELLINGHAM OF TODAY 

On November 27, 1919, Bellingham can celebrate its two hundredth anni- 
versary as a town. During these two centuries great changes have come. The 
wild beast and the savage Indian have disappeared and in their places have come 
the hum of civilized industry. The chief occupation of the people of Bellingham 
is agriculture. Fifty years ago shoes, farm tools, cotton and woolen goods and 
some other commodities were manufactured in considerable quantities. A few of 
these factories are still running, but most of them have been discontinued or 
removed to more favorable localities. Their history is given in the chapter on 
"Manufacturing." Bellingham has three public schools and in the year 1916 
expended $10,702.84 for educational purposes. The public library, though small, 
is well selected and well patronized by the people. Two lines of the New York, 
New Haven and Hartford railway system and three electric lines afford ample 
transportation facilities to all parts of the town. In 1910 the population was 
1,696 and in 191 5 the state census reported it to be 1,953, a g am °f 2 57 m fi ve 
years. In 1916 the property was valued for taxation at $1,107,960. 

The town officers at the beginning of the year 191 7 were as follows : Selectmen, 
Michael J. Kennedy, Harold M. Bullard and Hadley D. Perkins ; Clerk, Percy 
C. Burr; Treasurer and Tax Collector, Walter H. Thayer; Auditor, Harold 
G. Sackett ; Assessors, Orville C. Rhodes, Timothy E. Foley and Carroll E. 
White ; Overseers of the Poor, Emery B. Whiting, Otto L. Bullard and Percy 
C. Burr; School Committee, Henry McCarthy, Chester H. Richards and Richard 
B. Sill. 



CHAPTER XI 
THE TOWN OF BRAINTREE 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES SURFACE AND DRAINAGE FIRST WHITE MEN BRAIN- 
TREE INCORPORATED PETITION OF 1645 SAMUEL GORTON NEW BRAINTREE 

THE PRECINCTS THE FIRST MILL TOWN HALL SOLDIERS' MONUMENT 

WATERWORKS — ELECTRIC LIGHT WORKS — FIRE DEPARTMENT — POSTOFFICES — A 
FEW FIRST THINGS — BRAINTREE IN I917 TOWN OFFICERS. 

The Town of Braintree, situated in the eastern part of Norfolk County, was 
incorporated by act of the General Court on May 13, 1640. As originally estab- 
lished, it embraced the present towns of Braintree, Quincy, Randolph and Hol- 
brook. Quincy was set off on February 22, 1792, and Randolph (which included 
Holbrook) on March 9, 1793, reducing Braintree to its present dimensions. On 
the north it is bounded by the Town of Quincy; on the east by Weymouth; on 
the south by Randolph and Holbrook, and on the west by Quincy and Randolph. 

SURFACE AND DRAINAGE 

In common with other portions of Norfolk County, Braintree has a generally 
rolling surface, though the elevations here are not so large as those in some of 
the adjacent towns. The north fork of the Monatiquot River crosses the 
western boundary at the northeast corner of Randolph and flows in a south- 
easterly direction. The south fork forms part of the dividing line between 
Braintree and Randolph. A short distance south of South Braintree the two 
unite and from that point the main stream follows a northeasterly course to the 
Weymouth Fore River. Great Pond is situated between the forks of the 
Monatiquot, on the line between Braintree and Randolph ; Little Pond is near the 
center of the town, and in the southern part is a small body of water called 
Cranberry Pond. The waters of all these ponds finally reach the Monatiquot 
through small streams. 

FIRST WHITE MEN 

In September, 1621, an expedition of thirteen men, under command of Capt. 
Miles Standish, came up the coast from Plymouth in a large sailboat, entered 
Boston Harbor and landed on Squantum Head, in what is now the Town of 
Quincy. These were the first Englishmen to set foot upon the soil of this part 
of Norfolk County. They made no attempt to found a settlement but "returned 
in safety to Plymouth, full of admiration of the noble harbor and the fair 
country surrounding it, which they had then for the first time seen, and wishing 
they had been there seated." 

71 



72 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Thomas Morton, with a company of about thirty men, came to Mount Wol- 
laston in June, 1622, and made a feeble effort to establish a plantation. He 
soon afterward returned to England, but came back to America as a member of 
Captain Wollaston's company of adventurers in June, 1625. This company es- 
tablished a settlement at Mount Wollaston (then so named after the leader of 
the expedition), building several houses and laying out a plantation. The severe 
winter that followed seems to have been enough for Captain Wollaston, who 
left there early in 1626 and went to Virginia. Those who remained came under 
the leadership of Morton, who was afterward arrested and sent to England, 
charged with selling liquors and fire-arms to the Indians in violation of the royal 
proclamation. (See the chapter on Ouincy for a further account of Morton's 
doings). 

After the expulsion of Morton, the Neponset River was for several years the 
southern border of the settlements about Boston. But in May, 1634, the General 
Court ordered "that Boston shall have convenient enlargement at Mount Wollas- 
ton, to be set out by four different men, who shall draw a plot thereof and present 
it to the General Court, when it shall be confirmed." The report of the "four 
different men" was confirmed by the General Court the following September. By 
this arrangement large tracts of land were given to certain people of Boston, most 
of whom held their lands for speculation, but a few came and established their 
honres south of the Neponset, and from 1634 dates the first permanent settle- 
ment of Braintree. Some five years later considerable dissatisfaction arose on 
account of the non-resident land owners, and the following covenant was agreed 
upon as a settlement of the question: 

"It is agreed with our neighbors of Mount Wollaston, viz. : William Cheese- 
brooke, Alexander Winchester, Rich : Wright, James Penniman, i. e. in the name 
of the rest (for whom they undertooke) that they should give to Boston 4 shs 
the acre for 2 acr of the 7 ac formerly granted to divers men of Boston upon 
expectation that they should have continued still with us ; and 3s the ac for every 
acre which hath bene or shallbee granted to any other who are not inhabitants 
of Boston, and that, in consideration hereof and after the said potions of money 
shallbee paid to the towne treasurer, all ye said lands shallbee free from any 
towne rates or charges to Boston : & upon the tearms and alsoe from all county 
rates assessed with Boston, but to bee rated by the Court by its selfe: Provided 
that this order shall not extend to any more or other lands than such as shall 
make payment of the said rates so agreed upon of the 4s and 3s the ac ; & upon 
the former consideration there is granted to the Mount all that Rockye Ground 
lying between the Fresh Brook & Mr. Coddington brooke adjoyning to Mr. 
Hough's farme & from the West Corner of that farme to the south west corner 
of Mr. Hutchinson's farme to be reserved & used in common for ever by the 
Inhabitants & landholers there : together with an other parcell of Rockie ground 
near Knights Neek which was left out of the third company of lots excepting 
all such ground lying among or near these said Rockye grounds formerly granted 
in lots to particular Persons." 

BRAINTREE INCORPORATED 

Soon after this covenant was made a petition of the residents was presented to 
the General Court asking that they might be incorporated into a separate town, 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 73 

and on May 13, 1640, the Court enacted the following: "The petition of the 
inhabitants of Mount Wollaston was voted & granted them to bee a town accord- 
ing to the agreement with Boston : Provided, that if they fulfill not the covenant 
made with Boston & hearto affixed, it shabee in the power of Boston to recover 
their due by action against the said inhabitants, or any of them, and the town is 
to be called Braintree." 

The town was named after Braintree, in the County of Essex, England. At the 
time it was incorporated in 1640 the resident land owners, most of whom signed 
the petition, were as follows: Henry Adams, George Aldrich, Samuel Allen, 
Benjamin Albye, John Arnold, Gregory Belcher, Peter Brackett, James Clark, 
John Clark, Thomas Clark, John Dassett, William Davis, Francis Eliot, John 
French, Richard Hayward, Thomas Jewell, Benjamin Keayne, Stephen Kingsley, 
Henry Maudsley, John Merchant, Thomas Meakins, John Miles, Henry Neale, 
William Needham, John Pafflyn, Alexander Plumley, George Puffer, Abel Porter, 
W r illiam Potter, Robert Scott, George Sheppard,, Thomas Thayer, Edward Tinge, 
Henry Webb, George Wright and Richard Wright. 

Samuel A. Bates says : "Previous to its incorporation Quincy was called 
Mount Wollaston and Braintree, Monoticut. It took its name from the river 
which flows through it, and which is spelled in so many different ways in the 
ancient records that it is uncertain which is the correct one. It is now written 
'Monatiquot.' Holbrook and a part of Randolph (perhaps the whole) were 
called Cochato, sometimes Cocheco. In one instance Cochato was called Beer- 
sheba. Tradition says that Randolph was at one time called 'Scadding,' but I 
have never seen the name on the records." 

petition of 1645 

A little while before Braintree was incorporated, Samuel Gorton came with 
a small company from England and founded a settlement in what is now Plymouth 
County. Gorton's religious teachings soon brought him into conflict with the 
colonial authorities. On November 3, 1643, it was ordered by the General Court 
"That Samuel Gorton shall bee confined to Charlestowne there to be set on worke 
and to weare such boults or irons as may hind'r his escape and to continue dure- 
ing the pleasure of the Co'rt : Provided that if hee shall breake his said con- 
finem't or shall in the meane time either by speach or writeing publish declare 
or maintaine any of the blasphemos or abominable heresys wherew'th hee hath 
bene charged by the Generall Co'rt contained in either of the two bookes sent 
unto us by him or Randle Holden or shall reproach (or) repr've the churches 
of o'r Lord Jesus Christ in these United Colonies or the civill governm't or the 
publick ordinances of God therein (unless it bee by answer to some question 
ppounded to him in conference w'th any elder or with any other licensed to 
speake with him privately under the hand of one of the Assistants) that imme- 
diately upon accusation of any such writeing or speach hee shall by such Assist- 
ant to whom such accusation shallbee brought bee committed to prison till the 
next Co'rt of Assistants then and there to be tryed by a Jury whether hee hath 
so spoken or written and upon his conviction there of shallbee Condemed to 
death and Executed." 

This was rather severe upon one who sought to exercise that religious liberty 



74 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

for which the Pilgrims and Puritans exiled themselves from their native land, 
but it had the effect of breaking up Gorton's settlement. Not long after Gorton 
was confined at Charlestown, pursuant to the above order, the General Court 
ordered him to be banished from Massachusetts and he sought a refuge in Rhode 
Island, some of those who came with him from England accompanying him to 
that colony. In 1645 a petition was presented to the authorities by some of the 
inhabitants of Braintree, asking for permission to begin a new plantation "where 
Gorton and his companie had erected two or more houses." 

Those who signed the petition were : Christopher Adams, Henry Adams, 
Sr., Henry Adams, Jr., John Adams, Samuel Adams, Thomas Adams, George 
Aldridge, Thomas Barrett, Richard Brackett, Deodatus Curtis, Francis Eliot, 
William Ellice, Thomas Flatman, John French, John Garing, Humfry Grigs, 
John Hastings, Nathaniel Herman, Stephen Kingsley, Henry Maudsley, Thomas 
Meakins, Robert Quelues, John Shepard, Daniel Shode, Edward Sparlden, 
William Vaysey, Arthur Waring, Thomas Waterman, Christopher Webb, John 
Wheateley, Thomas Wilmet and Nicholas Woode, "They beeing about twenty of 
the thirty-two subscribers freemen." 

The petition was dated October 7, 1645, an ^ a few days later it was denied 
by Mr. Browne, one of the commissioners of the United Colonies, who gave 
as his reason therefor that the place was in Plymouth and that the Massachu- 
setts Bay Colony had no jurisdiction. Thus ended the first effort of the people 
of Braintree to acquire more territory. 

NEW BRAINTREE 

By 1666 practically all of the land in the town available for cultivation had 
been allotted to settlers. Early in October of that year the inhabitants presented 
to the General Court a petition "to grant unto us a quantity of six thousand acres 
of land in some place so as may be a relief to the inhabitants of this Towne 
which we hope will be according to God & no detriment to any other Township." 

On October 11, 1666, the General Court voted that "In answer to the petition 
of the Inhabitants of Braintree, the Court on Consideration of the reasons therein 
expressed judge meet to grant unto them six thousand acres of Land in some 
place, limited to one place, not prejudicing any plantation or particular grant." 

A committee of the citizens selected a tract lying between Braintree and 
Plymouth, but the General Court refused to confirm the selection. On March 
31, 1670, the selectmen of the town appointed a deputy to bring the matter before 
the General Court. The personnel of that body had changed materially since 
the petition had been allowed four years before, and the Court saw "no cause 
to grant the petition." There the matter rested for more than forty years. 
At the town meeting on March 2, 1713, Peter Adams, John Cleverly, Nehemiah 
Hayden, Nathaniel Hubbard and Joseph Neall were elected selectmen. These men 
immediately set in motion the machinery to obtain the grant of 6,000 acres allowed 
by the General Court in 1666. First they ascertained that the claim of the town 
was still valid, and then the question was submitted to a town meeting on June 
8, 1713. At that meeting the action of the selectmen was approved, and it was 
voted "That Captain Chapin, Peter Webb and Joseph Crosby be a committee to 
find & lay out the six thousand acres of land formerly granted by the Honoured 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 75 

Court to this Town & to do what is needful to be done about the same in ye 
space of one year & shall have for their so doing Thirty Pounds if the thing be 
effected otherwise nothing. And if Captain Chapin should refuse to go then Cap- 
tain Mills to be joyn'd to ye other two." 

The committee visited several localities where the land had not all been par- 
celed out to actual settlers, and finally selected a tract in the western part of 
Worcester County. The tract soon afterward became known as ''Braintree 
Farms.'" In 1751 it was included in and gave name to the Town of New Brain- 
tree. It was so far away that only a few of the inhabitants of Braintree went 
there to settle and the land was divided into lots and sold, the proceeds being 
divided among the precincts — that portion of the town now comprising Quincy 
being known as the North Precinct, Braintree proper, the Middle Precinct, and 
Randolph and Holbrook, the South Precinct. 

THE PRINCINCTS 

It may be of interest to the reader to know something of the manner in which 
the town was divided into three precincts. The original Braintree settlement 
was along the shores of the bay and on the upland and in the valleys in the 
immediate vicinity. In February, 1640, only about three months before the in- 
corporation of Braintree as a separate town, a grant of land on the Monatiquot 
River was made to John Collins, who was probably the first actual settler in that 
locality. By slow degrees the population worked its way back from the shores 
of the bay into the interior. 

On January 19, 1643, tne Town of Boston granted to John Winthrop and 
his associates 3,000 acres of land on the Monatiquot, "to be laid out next adjoin- 
ing and most convenient for their said iron works." The "said iron works" thus 
referred to consisted of a company formed about that time under the name of 
the "Company Undertakers of the Iron Works," for the purpose of establishing 
a foundry somewhere in the colony of Massachusetts. The works were built on 
the Monatiquot River and stimulated immigration to that part of the Town of 
Braintree, though as early as 1658 a few adventurous settlers had established 
claims as far west and south as the present Randolph line, on the old road to 
Taunton. One of these settlers was John Moore, who located upon a tract of 
600 acres between the Monatiquot River and the Great Pond. This tract was 
known as the "Moore Farm" for more than two centuries, and that portion of 
the river forming part of its boundary was called "Moore's Farm River," in 
memory of the first settler upon its banks. 

Now, it should be borne in mind that during the early settlement of Massa- 
chusetts, the church and the town government were inseparable, remaining so in 
fact, to some degree at least, until after the adoption of the revised constitution 
in 1820, which made a complete separation of the church and state. About thirty- 
five years after John Moore and his associates settled in the southwestern part 
of the town, a sentiment grew up among them that they were entitled to a more 
convenient place for holding religious services, as some of them were compelled 
to go several miles to attend public worship. No organized effort was made, 
however, to establish another church until about 1690. The movement was 
opposed by the inhabitants of the northern portion of the town and a bitter feud 



76 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

grew up between the different sections. Little can be learned of the dispute from 
the records, but one John Marshall, who lived in the north end, left a diary in 
which were some caustic criticisms of certain persons living in the southern part, 
"who acted in a disorderly manner and withdrew from the Lord's table." The 
contention went on until 1706, when the members of the congregation living in 
the southern part built a new meeting house at the corner of Elm and Washing- 
ton streets. Concerning this meeting house Samuel A. Bates says : "That it was 
built legally no one claimed, but its founders did claim that might had deprived 
them of their just rights, the opposers of the new movement being composed of 
the most influential citizens of the town, at the head of whom stood the Hon. 
Edmund Quincy, one of the leaders of government in the colony." 

Notwithstanding the influential opposition, the builders of the meeting house 
went ahead, and on September 10, 1707, Rev. Hugh Adams was installed as 
pastor. The north end continued its objections and the members of the new con- 
gregation petitioned the legal authorities to be set off as a distinct precinct, or 
parish, to be called ''the South Precinct in Braintree." The petition was granted 
on condition that they continued to pay their proportion of the expense of sup- 
porting the old society, which was levied upon them in the form of a tax, and 
also to pay for their own pastor, the money for which was raised by subscrip- 
tion. On November 3, 1708, a town meeting was held "to fix upon a suitable and 
reasonable line of division, and that said line be lovingly agreed upon and settled, 
if it may be." There were some who still opposed the division of the town, but 
after some discussion it was voted that Edmund Quincy and Nehemiah Hay den 
be appointed a committee to agree upon a line and present the matter to the 
General Court, then in session, asking that the southern part of the town be set 
off as a separate precinct. This was done two days later, hence the South Pre- 
cinct came legally into existence on November 5, 1708. Among those who were 
especially active in bringing about the establishment of the new precinct were: 
Joseph Allen, Samuel Bass, Samuel French, Nehemiah Hayden, Caleb Hobart, 
Samuel Niles, Jr., Ebenezer Thayer and Samuel White. 

After the division of the church and the organization of the South Precinct, 
the original Braintree settlement appears in the records as the North Precinct, 
which was set off as the Town of Quincy in 1792. The records of a town meet- 
ing held on November 17, 1727, show clearly that there were then but the two 
precincts. The first mention of the Middle Precinct is in the minutes of the 
town meeting held on March 4, 1728. This would indicate that the precinct was 
established some time between those two dates, but the writer has been unable to 
find any account of the manner in which it was created. 

THE FIRST MILL 

One of the first acts of a town meeting was to grant to Richard Wright the 
privilege of building a mill. On May 1, 1641, it was ordered by a town meeting 
"That their shall noe other mill be built in the plantation without the consent of 
Richard Right or his heires so long as. the mill remains in ther hands which was 
built by the said Richard Right, unless it evidently appear that the sd mill will 
not serve the plantation & that he or they will not built another in convenient 
time." 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 77 

This mill figured prominently in the town's history for more than a quarter of 
a century. On April 30, 1662, a ca^e came before a Country Court held in Boston, 
in which the parties to the action were as follows : "Thomas ffaxon, Sen r Peter 
Brackit & Moses Paine in the behalfe of the Towne of Brantrey Plaintiff vs 
Thomas Gatliffe of the s d Towne Defendant." In this action the defendant was 
charged with "Treaspassing vpon the Townes right in lands that is or hath bine 
flowed by the mill pond by mowing grass and chalenging it as his owne propriety ; 
as alsa treaspassing vpon the Towne's common in fencing in part of it & vpon 
the townes highway by his building fencing & digging holes according to attach- 
ment dat: 23 2d mo 1662." 

It seems that Gatliffe showed to the satisfaction of the court that he had 
acted within his rights in "treaspassing" as charged, and the case was settled by 
the plaintiffs and defendant entering into the following agreement : 

"Whereas a p'cell of land aboute twenty years Sine was granted vnto Richard 
Wright by ye Towne of boston for the encorigement and furtheranc of a water 
mill at Brantrey wch said mill & pond together with other estate hath been solde by 
the said W right vnto major Gibbins & by him vnto Symon Lynde and by the said 
Lynd assigned to Thomas Gatleiffe who' now dwelleth (on) & posesseth the same 
& Wheras sundry differences are arisen concerning ye mill pond & flowing therof 
by reason of divers apprehensions how & for what end ye sd pond was granted 
therfore so it is that I Thomas Gatliffe of Brantrey miller doe herby owne & 
declare that I doe fully apreehend & adjudge that ye sayd mill and pond & flowing 
thereof was at first granted for such an end and purpose as that ye Towne of 
Brantrey might be served & accommodated therby and as it hath ben hitherto so 
improved & at this time it is so : I declare and promise by gods assistance that 
I my heires & assignes shall so improved the said pond & noe wayes seeke to cast 
downe or demolish the same to the Frustrateing of ye Townes accomodations as 
wel as my owne particuler proffit by grinding. 

"And we Thomas ffaxon, Sr., Peter Brackitt and Moses Paine, part of the 
Selectmen of Brantrey and as chosen & apointed by ye Towne of Brantrey to end 
and settle the differences about ye said pond doe also herby in o'r owne name & 
and in the name of ye Towne of Brantrey declare & owne that we also aprehend 
& Judge that the formentioned mill pond was granted as aforsaid for & to such 
an end & purpose as is above exprest and doe herby for us and o'r successors of 
ye Towne of Brantrey declare and promise that neither wee nor they shall or 
will seeke to interrupt hinder or molest the said Thomas Gatlieffe his heires or 
assignes for or touching ye s d mill pond or ye flowing therof or any wayes seeke 
to demolish the same but on ye contrary gladly cherrish & countenanc the main- 
tening & upholding the same for the ends and purposes aformentioned for wch 
it was granted." 

The agreement was signed by all the plaintiffs and the defendant, and was 
witnessed by Richard Brackett and Richard Cook. The settlement of this suit 
left Thomas Gatliffe in peaceable possession of the mill property and for a num- 
ber of years thereafter he ground the town's corn. Twelve years later the mill 
question again came before a town meeting. The records for January 20, 1674, 
contain the following entry : 

"Ther being a legal Towne meeting of the inhabitants meet to consider of 
some proposalls made to the Towne by Leut John Holbrook & Christopher W r ebb 



78 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

about the mill being wholly demolished by fire there was chosen Capt Rich Brackit 
Deacon Base (Bass) Edm Quinsey Robert Tweles & Joseph Crosby by the Towne 
for a committee to heare and consider and to act for themselfes & the Towne of 
Brantrey's behalfe." 

On the 22nd the committee reported that the original grant to Richard Wright 
and the contract with Thomas Gatliffe had been duly considered, in connection 
with the proposals of Lieutenant Holbrook and Christopher Webb, and closed 
the report with this statement : ''We agree that the custom of the Towne is 
ingagded to this mill while wel supplyed & vsed Therefore we account him an 
offender that doe make vse of any River that is not perticuler propriety to grind 
for the Inhabitants." Thus the monopoly granted to Richard Wright thirty-five 
years before was maintained and this mill remained for some years longer the 
only one authorized by the town. 

TOWN HALL 

From the incorporation of the town in 1640 to 1730 the town meetings were 
held in the North Precinct meeting house. For the following twenty years they 
were held alternately in that building and the meeting house in the Middle Pre- 
cinct. From 1750 to the building of the town hall on the corner of Washington 
and Union streets in 1830 they were held in the Middle Precinct meeting house. 
The first meeting in the town hall was held on March 1, 1830. That hall was 
sold in 1858 to private parties, who removed it to Taylor Street and converted it 
into two dwelling houses. 

On February 11, 1851, was probated the will of Josiah French, a native of 
Braintree and a man who had been active in promoting the interests of the town. 
The will was dated March 19, 1845, and contained the following provision: "I 
give and devise to the Town of Braintree, in the County of Norfolk, Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts, a certain piece of mowing and tillage land lying situate 
in said Braintree, containing five acres, more or less, and bounded as follows : 
Easterly on Washington Street, northerly on land of Capt. Ralph Arnold, 
southerly on town land, and westerly on land of Peter Dyer. To have and to 
hold the same to the said Town of Braintree forever, to be used and occupied by 
the said town as a common or common field for companies and buildings for 
town or public business, but no private dwelling houses or buildings whatever to 
be placed on said premises, but to be forever French's common, except the wood 
I give my wife." 

Mr. French died on January 1, 1851, and after his will was probated the town 
had to defend a lawsuit before it obtained possession of the property. The case 
was finally settled in favor of the town and immediately afterward it was decided 
to erect a new town hall upon the tract, which is situated near the geographical 
center of the town. The new building was completed in 1858, when the old hall 
was sold, as already stated. The hall erected in 1858 was used for town meetings 
and the transaction of public business until its destruction by fire, when the 
present handsome and commodious structure was erected upon the same site. 
Braintree now has one of the finest and best appointed town halls in the State of 
Massachusetts. It is of brick, stone and steel and is as nearly fireproof as human 
ingenuity can devise. On the main floor are the town offices and a large hall, 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 79 

capable of seating about one thousand people. On the second floor is a hall for 
the Grand Army of the Republic and rooms used for various purposes. The base- 
ment contains the heating plant and storage vaults. It was completed in 1912 
and cost about ninety thousand dollars. 

On French's Common is also situated the public library, and between the 
library building and the town hall stands the soldiers' monument, which was 
dedicated on June 17, 1874. 

THE MONUMENT 

Early in the year 1865 a meeting of citizens was held in the town hall to con- 
sider the subject of erecting a suitable memorial to the Braintree soldiers who 
sacrificed their lives in defense of the Union. As a means of raising the neces- 
sary funds it was decided to hold a fair, a project in which the women of the 
town joined and about fourteen hundred dollars were thus realized. With this 
fund as a nucleus a canvass for subscriptions was commenced. Harvey White 
left the monument fund a legacy of $500, which with the sum raised by the fair 
and the subscriptions paid in was placed at interest until such time as the money 
was needed to pay for a memorial. 

In 1867 another meeting was held, at which F. A. Hobart, Asa French, Horace 
Abercrombie, Levi W. Hobart, E. W. Arnold, Jason G. Howard, Edward Avery, 
Alva Morrison and Edward Potter were appointed a committee "to procure plans 
and estimates for a suitable memorial." Mr. Howard and Mr. Potter removed 
from the town before anything definite was done by the committee, and their 
places were filled by James T. Stevens and William M. Richards. Several 
designs were submitted to the committee and on June 27, 1873, the town voted 
"That the soldiers' monument committee be instructed to erect upon some portion 
of the town land, near the town house, a statue cut in granite, after a model 
submitted by Messrs. Batterson & Canfield of Hartford, Connecticut, with a 
pedestal designed by H. & J. E. Billings, architects of Boston, at a cost not exceed- 
ing five thousand dollars above the foundation." 

On the front of the pedestal is the inscription: "The Town of Braintree builds 
this monument in grateful remembrance of the brave men whose names it bears." 
On the reverse is the simple inscription — "Dying they Triumphed," and on the 
north and south sides are the names of the forty-six Braintree soldiers who fell 
in action or died while in the service of the United States. The pedestal is sur- 
mounted by a life-sized statue of an infantry soldier, standing with his musket 
"at rest," carved in Westerly granite. The total cost of the monument was 
$6,466.26 of which sum the town appropriated $3,628.07. 

WATERWORKS 

The first move toward supplying the Town of Braintree with water for domes- 
tic purposes and for extinguishing fires was made on March 26, 1884, when the 
Legislature passed an act incorporating the Braintree Water Supply Company. 
In the act N. E. Hollis, Benjamin F. Dyer, George D. Willis, James T. Stevens, 
A. S. Morrison, Samuel W. Hollis and Ebenezer Denton were named as the 
incorporators of the company, and they, their "associates, successors and assigns," 



80 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

were authorized to make a contract with the Ouincy Water Company for a supply 
of water for the Town of Braintree. 

This act was repealed by the act of June 3, 1886, which incorporated a new 
Water Supply Company in the name of Francis A. Hobart, William Wheeler, 
Joseph E. Manning, E. W. Arnold, Benjamin F. Dyer and Charles F. Parks, 
"their associates and successors." The new company was given the privilege of 
taking the waters, "or so much thereof as may be necessary," of Great Pond, 
situated in the towns of Braintree and Randolph, "and the waters of any spring 
or artesian or driven wells within the Town of Braintree, and the water rights 
connected therewith,, except the property known as the Monatiquot spring, so 
called, in South Braintree," etc. 

The capital stock of the company, as authorized by the act, was not to exceed 
$100,000, and Section 10 provided : "That the said Town of Braintree shall have 
the right, at any time during the continuance of the charter hereby granted, to 
purchase the franchise, corporate property and all rights and privileges of said 
corporation, at a price which may be mutually agreed upon between said corpo- 
ration and the said town," etc., and by Section n the town was authorized to 
issue bonds to an amount not exceeding $100,000 to pay for the same, or to pro- 
vide for annual payments which should not extend beyond the life of the charter. 
By the act of May 20, 1891, the town was authorized to issue bonds to the 
amount of $50,000, or notes or scrip to that amount, "to complete the purchase 
of the waterworks of the Braintree Water Supply Company." The act also 
authorized the town to take certain lands on the borders of Little Pond, in order 
to obtain an additional water supply. Under the provisions of this act, the Brain- 
tree Waterworks became the property of the town. Since that time additional 
bonds and notes have been authorized for the purpose of extending the mains, 
purchasing new pumping machinery and otherwise improving the plant. At the 
close of the year 1916 the total amount of water bonds and notes outstanding was 
$276,000. For the redemption of these bonds there was at the same time an 
accumulated sinking fund of $229,810.04, leaving a net indebtedness on the water- 
works of $46,189.96. According to the report of W. E. Maybury, superintendent 
of the works, there were a little over forty-six miles of mains, and the income 
for the year from the sale of water and making connections was $32,347.46. 

ELECTRIC LIGHT WORKS 

The Braintree municipal lighting plant was established in 1893. Of the bonds 
issued on April 5, 1893, to pay for construction, the amount outstanding on Decem- 
ber, 31, 1916, was $16,500, practically offset by a sinking fund of $15,866.92. At 
the close of the year 1916 the sendee included 725 street lights, for which the town 
paid $6,282, and 1,600 private customers. According to the report of the town 
treasurer, the total income of the plant was $41,890.94. During the year nearly 
fifteen thousand dollars were expended in the purchase of new machinery, making 
the estimated value of the equipment at the close of the year over one hundred thou- 
sand dollars. Few towns in the state have a better lighting system than Brain- 
tree, and the cost of light to the consumer is much lower than in many of the 
large cities. F. B. Lawrence, manager of the municipal lighting department, 
closes his report for 1916 by saying: "Prices on pole-line, hardware, poles, wire 




MOUNT VERNON HOUSE, KING OAK HILL 
W EYMOUTH HEIGHTS 




BATHS OPERA HOUSE, (EAST) BRAINTREE 
FACING WEYMOUTH SQUARE 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 81 

and fuel have increased considerably over 1915, yet our manufacturing cost has 
been well within our income. With increased business and greater generating 
efficiency, we expect to make an even better showing for the coming year." 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

Protection against fire was a subject that early claimed the attention of the 
people of Braintree. On January 11, 1644, a town meeting "Ordered that evry 
(house) holder in this towne shall by the first day of March next insuing shall 
have a Ladder of his to stand up against his Chimney to secure them & the towne 
from fire or else shall be lyable to pay what penalty the towne's men shall impose 
one them." 

That was the beginning of Braintree's fire protection system. The ladders 
were followed by the old-time "bucket brigade," in which all the citizens within 
call formed a line between the burning building and the nearest available water 
supply and passed pails of water from hand to hand, the last man at the end of 
the line dashing the water upon the fire. Then the hand engine and the company 
of volunteer firemen came into use. This was a decided improvement upon the 
bucket brigade, but it was far short of the present modern system of fighting fires. 

The Braintree fire department now consists of three stations — one in each pre- 
cinct — equipped with the most approved apparatus. Each station is provided 
with a hose company and a hook and ladder company, and each is equipped wtih 
a combination motor truck. The total amount of appropriation for the support 
of the department in 1916 was $12,711.73, of which $3,529.75 was for the pay 
of firemen. According to the report of F. A. Tenney, chief of the department, 
sixty-three calls were answered during the year 1916. The total value of prop- 
erty involved was $94,800 and the actual loss was only a little over eleven thou- 
sand dollars — a recommendation of the department's efficiency. 

POSTOFFICES 

When the United States postoffice department was established under the law 
of 1792, there were not more than eight or ten regular postoffices in Massachu- 
setts. The office at Braintree — the first in the town — was established in Febru- 
ary, 1825, with Asa French as postmaster. He kept the office in his house on 
Washington Street. The South Braintree postoffice was established on March 13, 
1845, w ^h Judson Stoddard as postmaster, and was at first located on the corner 
of Washington and Pearl streets. The United States Postal Guide for July, 191 7, 
gives both of these offices as branches of the Boston postoffice. 

A FEW FIRST THINGS 

The first white child born in the town was Hannah Niles, a daughter of John 
and Jane Niles. She was born on February 12, 1636. 

The first marriage was that of Henry Adams and Elizabeth Paine, which was 
solemnized on October 17, 1643. 

The first recorded death was that of Mary Paine, whose burial occurred on 
June 2, 1643. 



82 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

The first case of insanity was reported in 1651, when "In answer to the peti- 
tion of John Heydon of Braintree, for relief in respect of his distracted childe," 
he was allowed five pounds per annum toward the charges of keeping the child, etc. 

The first manilla paper ever manufactured was made at the Hollingsworth 
Paper Mills in Braintree in 1843. 

The first church was organized on Sunday, September 16, 1639. 

The first school mentioned in the records was taught in 1648 by Henry Flint, 
teacher of the First Church. 

The first factory was the iron works, established on the Monatiquot River in 

1643- 

The first newspaper was published on June 5, 1875. 

BRAINTREE OF TODAY 

According to the United States census, the population of Braintree in 1910 was 
8,066, and the state census of 191 5 reported a population of 9,343, an increase of 
1,277 m fi ve years. The assessed valuation of property in 1916 was $9,780,179, 
an increase of $1,158,127 over the assessment of the preceding year. The total 
appropriations made by the annual town meeting of 1916 amounted to $195,268.73, 
of which $61,093 were for the support of the public schools, and $33,944 for 
the maintenance of streets and highways. From these liberal appropriations it 
can be readily seen that the people of Braintree believe in education and good 
roads. South Braintree has a bank, there are two weekly newspapers published 
in the town, excellent transportation facilities are afforded by the New York, 
New Haven & Hartford Railway and the electric lines that traverse the town, 
churches of various denominations are open to worshipers of all beliefs, the 
Thayer Academy, one of the leading educational institutions of Norfolk County 
is located in Braintree, the manufacturing interests are both varied and extensive, 
the last report of the State Bureau of Statistics giving reports from eighteen 
Braintree concerns having a combined capital of $3,299,047 and employing 2,000 
people, and the mercantile establishments compare favorably with those in towns 
of similar size and population. 

The principal town officers at the beginning of the year 191 7 were as follows: 
George H. Holbrook, Henry M. Storm and B. H. Woodsom, selectmen, highway 
surveyors and overseers of the poor; Henry A. Monk, clerk; Otis B. Oakman, 
treasurer; Albion C. Drinkwater, Henry W. Mansfield and Henry M. Storm, 
assessors; Frank W. Couillard, Paul Monaghan and C. F. Tarbox, auditors; 
William C. Harrison, John Kelley and James T. Stevens, water commissioners 
and commissioners of sinking funds ; Alexander T. Carson, Charles T. Crane and 
Norton W. Potter, municipal light board ; Ann M. Brooks, Frederick C. Folsom, 
William W. Gallagher, Benjamin Hawes, Carrie F. Loring and Frank A. Reed, 
school committee ; J. F. Kemp, Ray S. Hubbard and James H. Stedman, park 
commissioners; Frank A. Smith, tax collector; J. S. Hill, Fred A. Tenney, Frank 
O. Whitmarsh and the selectmen, engineers of the fire department; Jeremiah F. 
Gallivan, chief of police. 



CHAPTER XII 
THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT — TOPOGRAPHY — THE HOOKER GRANT — ALLOT- 
MENTS OF LAND — FIRST MOVE FOR SEPARATION FROM BOSTON — INCORPORATION 

OF BROOKLINE FIRST ELECTION ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES TOWN HALL 

WATERWORKS — FIRE DEPARTMENT — PUNCH BOWL TAVERN — BROOKLINE OF THE 
PRESENT. 

Brookline is the most northeastern town of Norfolk County. When the county 
was established in 1793, its territory was continuous from the Charles River at 
Charlestown to the Rhode Island line. Since then the towns surrounding Brook- 
line have all been annexed to the city, leaving the town segregated from the main 
body of Norfolk County and bounded on all sides by the City of Boston. Its 
greatest length from northeast to southwest is nearly four and a half miles, and 
its average width from southeast to northwest is a little less than two miles. 

TOPOGRAPHY 

Like most of the country near the sea coast in Eastern Massachusetts, the 
surface of Brookline rises gradually from the side next to the shore line toward 
the interior. On some maps are shown a line of elevations marked "Brookline 
Hills." The highest of these is Lyman's (or Cabot's) Hill, the summit of which 
is 336 feet above high-water mark. Next comes Hyde's Hill, which rises to a 
height of 309 feet above the .high-water line. Near the old standpipe of the 
Brookline Waterworks is another elevation 306 feet high, and Walnut Hill has 
an altitude of 283 feet. Other hills, of less altitude, but equally beautiful and 
picturesque, are Goddard Heights, Aspinwall's, Fisher's, Corey's, Bradley's, Bab- 
cock and Chestnut Hills, all except the last mentioned deriving their names from 
early owners. From the top of these hills a fine view of the surrounding country 
may be obtained, and the diversified surface of Brookline, its location, and other 
attractions have made the town a favorite resort for the suburban residents of 
Boston. 

The principal stream is the Charles River, which now merely touches the 
town on the northeast. When the Town of Brookline was first incorporated in 
1705, the Charles River formed the boundary line for some distance on the north, 
but that portion of the town was subsequently annexed to Boston. Muddy River 
has its source in Jamaica Pond and forms a portion of the boundary line between 
Brookline and the city. The early settlement, known as ''Muddy River Hamlet," 
took its name from this stream. In early days vessels of considerable tonnage 
could ascend the Muddy River with cargoes of goods for the inhabitants, deliver- 

83 



84 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

ing them at AspimvaH's Dock or Cotton's Landing. There are also several small 
brooks in the town, hence every part of it is well watered. 

THE HOOKER GRANT 

The first organized effort to plant a settlement along the shores of Muddy 
River was made in the autumn of 1634. Two years prior to that time Rev. Air. 
Hooker and forty-six members of his congregation at Mount Wollaston were 
granted permission by the General Court to remove to New Town (now Cam- 
bridge). In May, 1634, these same people complained of a scarcity of land, espe- 
cially meadow, in New Town and requested permission to look for and remove 
to a new location. The request was granted and messengers were sent out in 
different directions to seek a site for a new settlement. Those who went to 
Connecticut brought back flattering reports of the conditions there, and on Septem- 
ber 4, 1634, a petition was presented to the General Court praying for permission 
to remove to Connecticut. Fifteen of the deputies expressed themselves in favor 
of granting the petition, but the other ten were opposed. The governor and two 
assistants also favored the proposition to allow the people to depart from New 
Town, but other officials took the opposite view. The matter was finally com- 
promised by Mr. Hooker's company accepting the enlargements of land granted 
by Boston and Watertown, viz: "What are now the towns of Brookline, Brighton 
and Newton, excepting that portion which had previously been assigned to indi- 
viduals. These donations of land to New Town were made upon condition that 
Mr. Hooker's company should not remove from the colony, as is shown by the 
record of September 25, 1634, to wit: 

"Also it is ordered, that the ground aboute Muddy Ryver, belonging to Boston 
& vsed by the inhabitants thereof, shall hereafter belonge to Newe Towne, the 
wood & Timber thereof groweinge & to be groweinge to be reserved to the inhab- 
itants of Boston; provided, and it is the meaneing of the Court, that if Mr. 
Hooker and the congregacon nowe setted here shall remove hence, that then the 
aforesaid meadowe ground shall returne to Waterton & the ground att Muddy 
Ryver to Boston." 

In April, 1635, the General Court appointed Ensign William Jennison to run 
and mark the line between New Town and Roxbury. His report was as follows : 
"The line between Roxbury and New Town is laid to run southwest from Muddy 
River near the place called 'Nowell's Bridge' a tree marked on four sides, and 
from the mouth of the River to that place ; the south side is for Roxbury and the 
north for Newtown." 

Apparently the lands at Muddy River were not to the liking of Mr. Hooker 
and his associates and the records do not show that they made any serious attempt 
to found a settlement at that place. Early in 1636 the entire congregation, num- 
bering about one hundred people, led by Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, went to 
Connecticut and laid the foundation of the City of Hartford. After their depar- 
ture the land at Muddy River reverted to Boston, in accordance with the proviso 
included in the grant of September, 1634. William Spencer, Nicholas Danforth 
and William Jennison were appointed to locate the boundary lines between New 
Town and Boston and made the following report in April, 1636: 

"We whose names are underwritten, being appointed by the Court to set out 




COUNTRY CLUB, BROOKLINE 




ST. MARK'S METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. BROOKLINE 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 85 

the bounds of the New Town upon Charles River, do agree that the bounds of the 
town shall run from the marked tree, by Charles River, on the Northwest side of 
the Roxbury bounds, one and a half miles North east, and from thence three miles 
northwest, and so from thence five miles Southwest ; and on the Southwest side 
of Charles River, from the Southeast of Roxbury bounds, to run four miles on 
a Southwest line, reserving the proprieties to several persons, granted by special 
order of the Court." 

This report was signed by all three of the commissioners and their intention 
was to restore the Muddy River territory, or so much of it as had not been granted 
to individuals, as set forth in the last clause. The lines recommended by the com- 
mittee were not accurately established and when the name of New Town was 
changed to Cambridge by act of the General Court on March 2, 1638, some dissat- 
isfaction arose over the vague condition of the boundary dividing the towns of 
Cambridge and Boston. The two towns were therefore authorized to appoint 
members of a joint committee to settle the question. Boston appointed Thomas 
Oliver and William Collbron, and Cambridge appointed John Bridge, Richard 
Champney, Gregory Stone, Joseph Isaac and Thomas Marett. The committee 
was appointed on December 20, 1639, but did not do its work until the following 
summer, when the line was marked and established as follows: 

"We whose names are underwritten being appointed by the towns to which 
we belong, to settle the bounds between Boston (Muddy River) and Cambridge, 
have agreed that the partition shall run from Charles River, up along the channel 
of Smelt Brook to a marked tree upon the brink of said brook, near the first and 
lowest reedy meadow; and from that tree, in a straight line, to the great red oak, 
formerly marked by agreement, at the foot of the great hill, on the northernmost 
end thereof ; and from the said great red oak to Dedham Line, by the trees marked 
bv agreement of both parties this August 2, 1640." 

The establishment of this line restored to Boston the lands along Muddy River 
almost identically as they had been claimed by the town before the grant to Rev. 
Mr. Hooker's congregation in 1634. The condition of the lands was then about 
as described in Wood's "New England Prospect" in 1633, the year before the 
Hooker grant was made, viz : 

"The inhabitants of Boston, for their enlargement, have taken to themselves 
farm houses in a place called Muddy River, two miles from their town, where is 
good ground, large timber, and store of marsh land and meadow. In this place 
they keep their swine and other cattle in the summer, whilst corn is on the ground 
at Boston ; and bring them to town in winter." 

ALLOTMENTS OF LAND 

Among the early settlers of Boston the custom prevailed of parceling out the 
land to families in proportion to the number of members in each family. This 
was done by a given number of persons selected for the purpose — usually five 
or seven — who were known as "overseers of the town's occasions," or sometimes 
"townsmen" or "allotters." Between the years 1634 and 1640, on different occa- 
sions, the lands at Muddy River were thus divided and allotted to the citizens. 
Among the larger grants were 100 acres of upland and 15 acres of marsh to 
Thomas Leveritt, the same quantities of each to Thomas Oliver, 150 acres to 



86 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

William Coulborne, ioo acres to Wentworth Day, 80 acres of upland and 20 acres 
of marsh to Captain Underhill, and to John Cotton "all the ground lying betweene 
the twoe brooks, next to William Colborne's allotment there and soe to the other 
end unto the shortest overcut beyond the hill toward the northwest." 

Those who received "Greate Lotts" were : John Kenricke, John Leveritt, 
Richard Holledge, Gryffen Bowen, John Smyth, David Offley, Richard Sherman, 
George Curtys, Henry Messenger, Thomas Scottoe, Joshua Scottoe, William Ting, 
Thomas Painter, William Blanton (carpenter), Leonard Buttles (bricklayer), 
Robert Wing, Jacob Wilson, Mawdit Inge, William Hudson, Jr., Nathaniel 
Woodward, John Love, William Hibbins, Edward Grosse, Theodor Atkinsone, 
Edward Fletcher, Silvester Saunders, Ralph Mason, Thomas Wheeler, Thomas 
Alcock and Edmund Oremsby. 

Isaac Grosse received fifty acres ; Edward Bendall, thirty-five acres ; Phile- 
mon Pormont, thirty acres; George Griggs and Nathaniel Woodward, Sr., twenty- 
eight acres each ; William Pell and Robert Reynolds, twenty-five acres each : 
Thomas Flint, William Dynely, Richard Tappin and Francis Bushnall, twenty- 
four acres each ; and Richard Fairbancke, twenty-three acres. 

Twenty-acre lots were allotted to Nathaniel Heaton, Richard Bulgar, Robert 
Mear, Thomas Wardall, Robert Tytus and Alexander Winchester. 

John Cramme, Robert Houlton, William Beamsly, Thomasyn Scottna 
(widow), James and Richard Fitch received sixteen acres each. 

Those who received fifteen acres each in the general allotment were : George 
Baytes, William Blackstone, Henry Burchall and William Talmage. 

Descending the scale, John Mylam and Robert Walker each received allot- 
ments of fourteen acres, though the latter was subsequently granted five acres of 
the marsh land. 

Benjamin Ward, Raphe Route and William Wilson were awarded lots of 
twelve acres each. 

Allotments of ten acres each were made to James Davisse, John Cranwell, 
William Courser, Robert Turner, William Denning, John Arratt, Thomas Snow 
and William Coulborne, the last named having previously received a grant of 
150 acres. 

Quite a number received allotments of eight acres, viz. : Edward Browne, 
James Johnson, Edmund Jackson, Elizabeth Purton (widow), W'illiam Salter, 
William Townsend, Henry Elkyn, Jarrat Bourne, John Bigge, Alexander Becke, 
Robert Reade, Mathew Ines, Anthony Hawker, John Pemmerton, Anne Oremsby 
(widow) and John Odline. 

Thomas Savage received seven acres, Isaac Perry a "houseplott," and several 
grants were made to persons if there was sufficient land to be had. Edward 
Grubb, Benjamin Gillum, Job Davis and a few others purchased their lands out- 
right, paying therefor ten shillings an acre. 

Most of those to whom lands at Muddy River were allotted were residents of 
Boston, and only a few of the recipients became actual settlers. For about 
seventy-five years after the settlement of Boston the territory now included in 
the Town of Brookline was known as "Muddy River," "Muddy River Hamlet," 
or "Boston Commons," the last name having probably been applied because of 
the fact that on December 30, 1639, it was agreed that there should be set apart 
"500 acres at Muddy River for perpetuall Commonage to the Inhabitants there 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 87 

and the towne of Boston, to begin at the outer bounds of Mr. Hibbin's Lott, and 
soe to goe into the Country, as the Land will afford, before any other allotments 
are laid outt hereafter." 

During this period the inhabitants of Muddy River remained under the "care 
and jurisdiction of the Town of Boston," and paid taxes to the Boston authorities. 

FIRST MOVE FOR SEPARATION 

The first move on the part of the people of Muddy River for the privilege of 
acting independently of Boston in any way, was made on March 29, 1686, when 
they presented a petition to the Boston selectmen for permission to establish a 
school. In response to the petition "It was voted that the selectmen take this 
matter into consideration and inquire into the reason thereof and represent it to 
the next General Towne Meeting what is necessary to be done therein." 

No report was made by the selectmen and after waiting for several months 
the inhabitants of Muddy River grew somewhat impatient. A petition asking for 
exemption from town rates and the privilege of establishing a school was pre- 
sented to the General Court, where the records show it was disposed of as follows : 

"New England: — By the President and Councill of his Majesties Territory 
and Dominion, Aforesaid &c. 

"Wednesday, December 8th 1686. 

"Present, the Honble Joseph Dudley, Esq., President; William Stoughton, 
Esq. Deputie Prest. ; Edward Randolph, Wait Winthrop, Richard Wharton, John 
Usher, Bartholomew Gidney & Jonathan Tyng, Esqrs. 

"In answer to the petition of ye inhabitants of Muddie River, prayinge to 
have libertie to erect a school &c upon the hearinge thereof, the President and 
Councill doe order, That henceforth the said Hamlet of Muddie River be free 
from Towne rates to ye Towne of Bostone, they maintaininge theire owne high 
waves and poore and other publique charges ariseinge amongst themselves, And 
that within one yeare next comeinge they raise a school house in such place as 
the two next Justices of the Countrie (upon a publique hearinge of the Inhab- 
itants of said Hamlet) shall determine as also maintaine an able readinge and 
writinge Master there, from and after that day, and that the Inhabitants annuallie 
meete to choose three men to manage theire affaires. 

"Edward Randolph, Seer. 
"A true coppie as attests 
"Benjamin Bullivant, 

"Late Clerke of ye Councill." 

At a full meeting of the inhabitants of Muddy River on January 19, 1687, the 
above order was accepted by a unanimous vote, and Andrew Gardner, Thomas 
Steadman and John White, Jr., were chosen to "manage theire affaires" for the 
ensuing year, Provision was also made at this meeting for the maintenance of 
a schoolmaster. The minutes of this meeting constitute the first entry in the 
Muddy River records. For about two years the people of Muddy River congratu- 
lated themselves upon the acquisition of the privilege to control their own affairs, 
but at a town meeting in Boston on March 16, 1689, it was "Voted, that Muddy 
River Inhabitants are not discharged from Bostone to be a hamlet by themselves, 
but stand related to Bostone as they were before the yeare 1686." 



88 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

This action on the part of Boston was a direct attempt to deprive the people 
of Muddy River of the rights and privileges granted them by the General Court 
and reopened the whole question of town rates, etc. During the next few years 
the population of the hamlet increased and in 1698 the following petition was 
presented to the General Court : 

"To the Hon. William Stoughton, Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, the 
Honorable Council, and the Representatives in General Court assembled, 25th 
May, 1698: 

''The humble petition of the inhabitants of Muddy-river humbly showeth — 
Whereas in the year 1686, the Honorable Joseph Dudley, President, William 
Stoughton, Deputy President, and the Council, in answer to the petition of the 
inhabitants of Muddy-river, praying liberty for a school among them, &c, did 
order, that the Hamlet of Muddy-river be free from Town rates to the Town 
of Boston, and other privileges, as in said grant, on the other side, may more at 
large appear; 

"We, your petitioners, do humbly pray that the said granted privileges may 
be confirmed unto said Hamlet, with the addition that the inhabitants may choose 
such officers amongst themselves, as may assess the inhabitants their due propor- 
tion, as may be thought sufficient and expedient for defraying such necessary 
charges to said school, and other things ; and that one constable may be chosen, 
who may be sufficiently impowered to collect the rates for the County and the 
Hamlet ; and your petitioners, as in duty bound, shall every pray. 

"Thomas Gardner^) In the name 
"Benjamin White [■ of the 
"Roger Adams J Inhabitants." 

Upon this petition the General Court failed to take any action, or at least 
no record of any action can be found, and the relations between the Town of 
Boston and the settlement at Muddy River continued without change for about 
two years longer. Then, the population of the hamlet having increased to such 
an extent that the people felt able to support a town government oi their own, 
decided to take such steps as might be necessary for their separation from Boston. 

INCORPORATION OF BROOKLINE 

Accordingly, on March 11, 1700, a petition signed by nearly every man resident 

at Muddy River, was sent to the parent town asking that they be set off as a 

separate district or hamlet from Boston. The petition was not favorably received 

by the people of Boston, for at a town meeting on the very day it was presented 

the following action was taken : 

"Upon the Petition of the Inhabitants of Muddy River to be a District or 
Hamlet, separate from the Town of Boston for these reasons, following, viz., the 
remoteness of the situation, which renders them incapable of enjoying equal bene- 
fit and advantage with other of the Inhabitants of Publick Schooles for the 
instruction of their children, relief of their Poor, and Repairing of their 
Highways. 

"Their petition being read and reasons given therein debated, It was voted in 
the negative, and that though they had not for some years been rated in the Town 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 89 

rate, yet for the time to come, the Selectmen should vote them in the Town Tax 
as the other Inhabitants, and as formerly they used to be, and for their encour- 
agement it was voted that the Selectmen should provide a schoolmaster for them 
to teach their children to read, write and cypher, and order him his payment out 
of the Town Treasury. 

"A True Coppie as entered with the records of the Town of Boston. 

"Joseph Prout, Town Clerk." 

That the people of Muddy River were greatly disappointed at this reception 
of their petition may be easily imagined, and doubtless some ill-feeling was de- 
veloped among them. Matters were allowed to drift along without change for 
about three years, when the inhabitants of the hamlet decided to appeal to a higher 
power for relief. Accordingly the following petition for presentation to the 
General Court was prepared and circulated for signatures : 

"To His Excellency the Governor, Council and Assembly : 

"The humble petition of the Inhabitants of Muddy River, Humbly Sheweth, 
That they are a Hamlet belonging to Boston, have been lately settled there and 
sometime since in the year 1686 being grown to a good number of inhabitants 
represented to the Government then in being, praying to be acquitted from paying 
duties and taxes to the Town of Boston, being then willing to bear their public 
charges of Bridges, Highwaies and Poor, and were accordingly then released and 
ordered to maintain a Reading and Writing Schoole as the order annexed will 
show, which accordingly we have ever since done, and now further humbly pray 
that being grown to a greater number of good settled inhabitants we may be al- 
lowed a separate right to have Selectmen, and all other rights belonging to a 
Township, which may further encourage us as we are able to settle a minister and 
other benefits amongst us, and we shall ever pray." 

The petition was signed by Samuel Aspinwall, Thomas Gardner, Sr., Samuel 
Sewall, Jr., Thomas Steadman, Sr., Benjamin White, Joseph White, John Win- 
chester, Sr., and Josiah Winchester. It came before the General Assembly on 
June 17, 1704, when it was ordered "That the Selectmen of Boston have a copy 
of this petition and be heard thereon at ye next Session of this Court." On 
November 1, 1704, the Council ordered "That the Selectmen of Boston bee notified 
to attend on Saturday morning, the fourth, current, November 4, 1704." It is 
not certain that the Boston selectmen obeyed the summons, probably because they 
were not ready to present their side of the case, and the petition was continued 
to the next session. 

At a meeting held in the Boston Town Hall on March 12, 1705, Elisha Cook, 
Joseph Bridgham, Ephraim Savage, Bezour Allen and Oliver Noyes were ap- 
pointed a committee "to consider and draw up what they shall think proper (on 
behalf of this Town) to lay before the General Court at their next session relating 
to a petition of sundry of the Inhabitants of Muddy River, that the said District be 
dismist from the Town of Boston and be admitted to be a Town of themselves."' 
Following is the report of that committee : 

"Upon perusal of the said petition (we) observed that several sessions of the 
General Court have passed after the time set for the hearing thereof, and that 
consequently the matter then fell; however, if it be again revived by any new 
petition or order, we think it proper to lay before the Court the unreasonableness 



90 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

of their demand, they having been hitherto supported by the Town while they 
were not able themselves to defray their necessary public charges, now increasing 
upon us and the body of ye town abounding with poor, and such as are not capable 
to defray, but rather greatly increase the charges for the Inhabitants of Muddy 
River at such a time, and being themselves now grown more oppulent and capable 
to be helpful to ye town, to be sent from us seems most unreasonable, and in them 
very ungrateful and may be a bad example to others to endeavor the like, and to 
cutt the town into such shreds, as will best suit themselves without any due 
regard to ye public Intrist, the charge of the Road upon ye neck is great and is 
still growing and ye petitioners and Inhabitants of Muddy River have had more 
benefit and do more to increase the charge of that way than all the rest of the 
town. Several other things might be instanced which the Selectmen are well 
acquainted with and we think they ought (if the General Court see cause to 
proceed on the petition) to pray to be heard therein." 

On June 15, 1705, the petition came up in the Council and it was ordered that 
the selectmen of Boston be given an opportunity to be heard on the 19th. The 
House concurred in this action and the next mention of the matter is found in 
the journal of the House for June 20, 1705, when it was "Resolved that since the 
time of hearing of ye premises before this Court is Slipt, there should be a hearing 
thereof on fryday next at three of the Clock in ye afternoon, and that ye Select- 
men of Boston be notified thereof." 

The Council concurred and this time the selectmen of Boston appeared and 
submitted the following answer to the petition : 

"To his Excellency, Joseph Dudley, Esq., Captain-General and Commander- 
in-chief, and to ye Honorable, ye Council and Assembly : 

"The Answer of ye Selectmen and ye Committee of ye Town of Boston, to ye 
Inhabitants of Muddy River, Humbly Sheweth, That they have been as easy in 
this Town as they could in reason desire. That they have not urged anything 
in their petitions to the contrary. This Town has never called on them to support 
the ministry of the town as is usual in like cases in ye Country. They have not 
been enjoined to watchings and wardings, either stated or occasionally, which 
has layn heavy on ye body of the Town. That they have constantly had ye nomi- 
nations of their own officers ye towne has usually confirmed. Upon ye desire and 
Regular motion for a Schoole in that part of ye Town, it has bin allowed them. 
That lately there has not been more levied on them (and not always so much) 
as would defray the charges incident in that Part of ye Town and when, as they 
mention in ye petition, it would in them in time to support the charge of a stated 
ministry thereby importing ye present inability, which seems a very preposterous 
arguing. 

"The law requiring a settled ministry thereby as one qualification for a Town- 
ship and some of the subscribers since ye signing have declared ye contrary Inten- 
tions. And that which makes this desire the more unreasonable is that they have 
hitherto been supported by ye Town, while they were not able themselves to 
defray ye public charges in too many instances to be enumerated. That it may 
be a precident of ill consequences to ye public to divide Townships into small 
slips of land rendering them weak and every charge a Burden, tending to starve 
learning and religion out of ye countrey, especially when no reason of state 
requires. Ye consideration of which we submit to this honorable Court. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 91 

"We humbly offer further to this honorable Court that such a separation is 
contrary to ye undoubted right and interest of Boston, there being 500 acres of 
land common in that part of the Town, which is the Town's right, but on a sepa- 
ration can be of no service to the Town. That the Town is very much straightened 
in its present boundaries by our former too easy concessions as was that of the 
Neck to Dorchester, or the Lane to Newtown and Cambridge, and the whole 
Townshipp of Braintree, and would so much more if Muddy River so near us 
should be separated from the Town. Rumney Marsh, &c, would have a preci- 
dent to desire the same so that Boston would only be confined to this Isthmus 
of a mile long which was never thought sufficient bounds for a Townshipp, espe- 
cially at this time when Boston is daily ye centre of all foreign poor, of saviors 
widows, and the refuge of our distressed neighbors from ye frontier who Insensi- 
bly grow upon us, so that upon the whole we hope your Excellency's honorable 
Court will not grant said petition.'' 

This answer was signed by three members of the committee appointed the 
preceding March — Savage, Allen and Noyes — and "By order of the selectmen 
it was spread upon the records of the town on June 22, 1705. It is interesting 
now, in that it shows what a plea of poverty and hardship Boston, now the 
wealthiest and most populous city of New England, could make two hundred and 
twelve years ago. So far as the people of Muddy River were concerned, the plea 
fell on deaf ears, as they redoubled their efforts to bring about a separation. At 
the fall session of the General Court another petition was presented, to wit : 

"To his Excellency, the Governor, Council and Assembly in General Court 
convened : 

"The humble petition of the Inhabitants of Muddy River sheweth, That at 
a session of this honorable Court, held at Boston on 13, August, 1704, the said 
Inhabitants exhibited their humple petition praying that the said Muddy River 
might be allowed a separate Village or Peculiar, and be invested with such rights 
and powers as they may be enabled by themselves to manage the general affairs 
of said place. Which petition has been transmitted to the Selectmen of the Town 
of Boston, that they may consider the same ; since which your humble petitioners, 
not having been informed of any objection made by the Town of Boston, afore- 
said, we presume that there is no obstruction to our humble request made in that 
petition. 

"Wherefore we humbly beseech your Excellency, that this honorable Court 
will be pleased to proceed to pass an Act for the establishing of the said place 
a separate Village or Peculiar, with such powers as aforesaid, and your petitioners 
shall ever pray." 

The petition was signed by John Ackers, John Ackers, Jr., William Acker-, 
Eleazer Aspinwall, Samuel Aspimvall, Peter Boylston, Abram Chamberlen, 
Edward Devotion, John Devotion, John Ellis, Caleb Gardner, Joseph Gardner, 
Thomas Gardner, Thomas Gardner, Jr., John Seaver, Samuel Sewall, Jr., William 
Sharp, Ralph Shepard, Joshuah Stedman, Thomas Stedman, Thomas Stedman, 
Jr., Benjamin White, Benjamin White, Jr., Joseph White, Henry Winchester, 
John Winchester, John Winchester, Jr., Josiah Winchester, Josiah Winchester, 
Jr., Thomas Woodward, and a few others whose names cannot be deciphered. 

On November 2, 1705, this petition came before the House of Representatives 
and on the 9th that body ordered that the prayer of the petitioners be granted. 



92 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

On the ioth the petition and order passed by the House were read for the first 
time in the Council, where the .action was concurred in on the 13th. Following is 
the full text of the order : 

"Anno Regni, Anna Regina Quarto. 

"At a Great and General Court or Assembly for her Majesty's Province of the 
Massachusetts Bay in New England begun and held at Boston upon Wednesday 
the Thirtieth of May, 1705, and continued by several Prorogations unto Wednes- 
day the Twenty-Fourth of October following, and then mett Tuesday November 
13, 1705, In Council: 

"The Order passed by the Representatives upon the Petition of the Inhabi- 
tants of Muddy River, a Hamlet of Boston read on Saturday last, viz. : 

"Ordered, That the Prayer of the Petition be Granted and the Powers and 
Priviledges of a Township be given to the Inhabitants of the Land commonly 
known by the Name of Muddy River, The Town to be called Brookline, who are 
hereby enjoyned to build a Meeting House and Obtain an Able Orthodox Minister 
according to the Direction of the Law, to be Settled amongst them within the 
space of Three Years next coming. Provided, That all Common Lands belonging 
to the Town of Boston lying within the bounds of the said Muddy River not dis- 
posed of or allotted out shall still remain to the proprietors of the said Lands. 

"Which Order being again read was concurred And is consented to. 

"Joseph Dudley." 

first election 

The first town meeting in Brookline was held in the old school house on 
Monday, March 4, 1706, and the first thing to come before the meeting was the 
election of town officers. Thomas Gardner, Samuel Aspinwall, John Winchester, 
Josiah Winchester and Samuel Sewall were chosen as selectmen; Josiah Win- 
chester, Sr , clerk ; Samuel Aspinwall, Joseph Gardner and Roger Adams, asses- 
sors (Mr. Adams declined to serve and John Winchester was chosen in his place) ; 
Daniel Harris and Samuel Clark, tithingmen ; Eleazer Aspinwall, Benjamin 
White, Jr., and Robert Harris, surveyors of the highways; John Winchester, Jr., 
and Edward Devotion, fence viewers ; Thomas Stedman, Jr., and Daniel Harris, 
overseers of the common lands; Nathaniel Holland and William Sharp, field 
drivers. 

At the same meeting it was voted that a burying place should be established 
in the town and that it should be "on a spot of land on the south side of the Hill 
in Mr. Cotton's farm pointing between the two Roads if it can be attaind." The 
meeting declined to take any action toward the erection of a meeting house and 
the settling of a minister as required by the organic act, but voted that twelve 
pounds be levied by tax upon the people of the town "for repairing the school 
house and the support of the school for the present yeare." 

ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES 

When the Town of Brookline was established, the little stream known as 
Smelt Brook formed the boundary line between the new town and Brighton, and 
it is said that from this fact the town of Brookline derives its name. Early in the 




TOWN HALL. BROOKLINE 




HIGH SCHOOL, BROOKLINE 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 93 

year 1825, Josiah Quincy, then mayor of Boston, and John Robinson, chairman 
of the board of selectmen of Brookline, joined in a petition to the General Court 
asking that the boundary line between Boston and Brookline be established as 
follows : 

"Beginning at a point (marked 'a' on the annexed plan) 1,123 feet distant 
westerly from the westerly side of the filling sluices of the Boston and Roxbury 
mill-dam; thence running northwesterly from said point 'a' at an angle of 115 
from the mill-dam until it strikes the center of the channel of Charles River; and 
also running from said point 'a' southerly at an angle of 103 40' until it strikes 
the center of the channel of Muddy River, at a point where the respective 
boundaries of Boston, Brookline and Roxbury meet each other." 

The petition was granted by the passage of a bill which was approved on 
February 22, 1825. Section 1 of the act established the boundary line as described 
in the petition, and Section 2 modified the boundary lines between the counties 
of Norfolk and Suffolk to conform to the new line as given in the preceding 
section. 

On November 23, 1869, James Bartlett, Thomas Parsons, William J. Griggs, 
Edward S. Philbrick and Horace James, selectmen of Brookline, and James F. C. 
Hyde, George E. Bridges, D. C. Sanger, Willard Marey, Joseph Walker and 
Thomas Rice, Jr., selectmen of Newton, acting under authority conferred upon 
them by the General Court, fixed the boundary line between those two towns 
as it exists at the present time. 

The boundary line between Brookline and West Roxbury was established on 
December 2, 1869, by the selectmen of the two towns, viz. : James Bartlett, 
Thomas Parsons, William J. Griggs and Edward Philbrick on behalf of Brook- 
line, and Aristides Talbot, Charles G. Macintosh, John E. Blackemore, Nathan B. 
Prescott and Jeremiah E. Williams on behalf of West Roxbury. 

On the same day the above named selectmen of Brookline and B. F. Pierce 
and H.-W. Baxter of Brighton fixed the boundary line between the two towns. 
The line as established by the selectmen was made legal by an act approved on 
June 18, 1870. 

TOWN HALL 

The early town meetings of Brookline were held in the old school house. The 
first mention of a town house to be found in the records is in the minutes of the 
meeting of May 10, 182 1, when it was "Voted, that the Town build a two-story 
building, the basement to be entirely above ground, that the building be of wood 
48 by 28 feet, and that the town treasurer be authorized to borrow a sum of 
money sufficient to complete said building." 

Some delay was evidently experienced in the erection of the building, as the 
records show that "On Saturday evening, January 1, 1825, the New Town Hall 
was dedicated by Prayer and Sacred Musick." On that occasion John Robinson 
presented a chandelier for lighting the hall. On August 17, 1843, the town hall 
was ordered to be remodeled for a high school building, which was done at a 
cost of $281.67, and on November 13, 1843, the following was adopted by a town 
meeting: 

"Whereas, in consequence of our recent appropriation of the Town Hall to 



94 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the use of the public high school, and of the destruction of the Engine House by 
fire the past summer, it is both expedient and necessary that measures be taken 
at this time for providing a new Town Hall and store house for the Fire Engine ; 
and that a committee of five citizens, selected from different parts of the Town, 
be now appointed to look out and decide upon some suitable location, ascertain 
the price for which it can be obtained, procure from an architect a plan of build- 
ing suitable for the accommodation of the Town, get an estimate of the whole 
expense, and make a report of their proceedings to our annual meeting in March 
next, and that Samuel Philbrick, Abijah W. Goddard, Charles Stearns, Jr., 
Daniel Sanderson and Timothy Corey constitute said committee." 

The report of this committee is dated January 30, 1844, and states that the 
committee had obtained the refusal of three sites. The town voted to purchase 
the lot fronting on Washington Street 205 feet and 180 feet deep from James 
Bartlett, for the sum of $935.82, and Samuel Philbrick, Bela Stoddard and 
Charles Stearns, Jr., were appointed a building committee to superintend the 
erection of the new hall. The building was dedicated on the evening of October 
13, 1845, w i tn m usic and a historical sketch of the town 'by Rev. John Pierce. The 
total cost of lot and building was $6,285.32. 

Edward Atkinson, Charles D. Head, Charles U. Cotting, Alfred Kenrick, 
William S. Spencer, Amos A. Lawrence and Abijah W. Goddard were appointed 
a committee on March 18, 1867, "to consider the expediency of adding accommo- 
dations to the present Town Hall for a reading room and library." No report 
from this committee can be found, but the members apparently did not regard 
the project with favor, for on March 28, 1870, the following committee was 
appointed to consider the subject of a new town hall: William A. Wellman, 
Charles U. Cotting, John C. Abbott, Charles W. Scudder, Augustine Shurtleff, 
William Aspinwall, William K. Melcher, William Lincoln and M. P. Kennard. 
The committee reported in favor of the new building and the town voted an 
appropriation of $100,000, which was placed at the disposal of the committee. 
Fifty thousand dollars were subsequently added to the appropriation and bonds 
were issued for the whole amount. S. J. F. Thayer's plans were accepted and 
bids were advertised for, which resulted in the contract for the masonry being 
awarded to Adams & Barstow of Boston, and for the carpenter work to William 
K. Melcher of Brookline. The corner-stone was laid on May 23, 1871, and 
the structure, which occupies the site of the old town hall, was dedicated on Febru- 
ary 22, 1873, with appropriate ceremonies, Robert C. Winthrop delivering the 
historical address. At a special meeting held on the 27th, William Aspinwall, 
Charles D. Head and William A. W'ellman were appointed a committee "to com- 
pile and print the proceedings, speeches," etc. of the dedication. The total cost 
of the building was $150,010. 

WATERWORKS 

At the annual meeting held on .March 20, 1865, it was voted "That the repre- 
sentative from this town in the General Court be requested and instructed to use 
his utmost endeavors to have inserted in the 'Bill to authorize the City of Boston 
to build an additional reservoir,' now before the House of Representatives, a 
provision that the city may distribute the waters of Lake Cochituate through the 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 95 

said Town of Brookline, and shall make and establish hydrants therein in the 
same manner it now may throughout the City of Boston and if the Legislature 
shall, upon a respectful request therefor refuse to make such provision, that 
our representative be instructed to remonstrate and protest, in behalf of the 
inhabitants of Brookline, against so much of the bill as authorizes the City of 
Boston to lay pipes through the streets of Brookline." 

This was the first move on the part of the people of Brookline to secure a 
supply of water for the town. The Legislature failed to grant the request and 
the next mention of the subject in the town records is in the minutes of the 
meeting of December 7, 1869 when Amos A. Lawrence offered a resolution "That 
George M. Dexter, Francis P. Denney and E. C. Cabot be a committee to ascer- 
tain whether it is expedient to purchase the property of the Jamaica Pond 
Aqueduct Company, or any other supply of water, for the town, and to report 
at a future meeting to be called by the chairman of the committee." 

The resolution failed of adoption and nothing further was done until the 
meeting of May 2, 1871, which voted that the moderator appoint a committee of 
five to take into consideration the subject of supplying the town with water and 
report at a future meeting. George F. Homer, the moderator, appointed John W. 
Candler, William Aspinwall, Amos A. Lawrence, Charles D. Head and Edward 
S. Philbrick, and the meeting voted to add Mr. Homer to the committee. On 
January 23, 1872, Edward S. Philbrick reported for the committee three plans 
that had been considered: 1st, to obtain a supply of water from the City of 
Boston ; 2nd, to erect waterworks in connection with the Town of West Roxbury ; 
3d, to construct independent works on the part of Brookline. The first proposed 
method failed because the water board of Boston reported that the city had no 
water to spare, the second also failed because it was learned that the Charles 
River, from which it was proposed to take the supply for Brookline and West 
Roxbury, was claimed by the City of Boston. With regard to the third method 
the committee recommended the purchase of the springs upon the land of the 
Brookline Land Company, which showed an average daily capacity of about 
three hundred and fifty thousand gallons. The committee reported that nine 
acres of the land could be bought for $50,000, and estimated the cost of the works 
at $165,968. The report was accepted, the committee was continued with instruc- 
tions to confer with the Jamaica Pond Aqueduct Company. 

On March 26, 1872, the committee reported that the City of Boston was apply- 
ing to the General Court for permission to take the waters of the Charles and 
Sudbury rivers and recommended that the selectmen of Brookline be instructed 
to have a bill introduced allowing Brookline to take water from the Charles River. 
Later at the same meeting Mr. Philbrick reported that the city had withdrawn 
its application. The instructions to the selectmen were then changed by a resolu- 
ion setting forth that as Boston had for twenty-five years used the streets of 
Brookline for water mains, the selectmen ask the General Court to order Boston 
to supply the town with water, otherwise to pass a bill giving the town permission 
to use the waters of the Charles River. On the 10th of April following the 
selectmen and committee presented a petition to the General Court asking that 
the town be allowed to take water from the Charles River. A bill to that effect 
was passed and was accepted by a town meeting on May 7, 1872, by a vote of 
185 to 90. 



96 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

At the annual meeting on March 31, 1873, Charles K. Kirby, Charles H. Drew 
and William Aspinwall were elected as the first board of water commissioners, 
and on October 28, 1873, the town passed an ordinance appropriating $400,000 
for the construction of the works. Under this ordinance the plant was com- 
menced. Subsequently, "scrip" to the amount of $75,000 was issued to complete 
the waterworks, but even this addition was insufficient, and on April 21, 1876, 
it was voted to borrow $25,000 in addition to the $475,000 previously appropriated. 
By the act of November 8, 1888, the town was authorized "to issue notes, scrip 
or certificates of debt, to be denominated 'Brookline Water Scrip,' to an amount 
not exceeding $500,000, in addition to the $700,000 which said town has been 
heretofore authorized to issue." With the funds thus provided the capacity of 
the plant was increased to 3,000,000 gallons daily, giving Brookline one of the 
best waterworks systems in the state. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

The first mention of anything in the nature of protection against fire to be 
found in the town records is in the minutes of the town meeting of March 17. 
1788, when "Col. Aspinwall and Lieut. Croft were chosen Firewards." Some 
time after this (the records are not plain in the matter) an arrangement was 
made with the Town of Roxtmry to establish jointly a system of fire protection. 
In the records of the town meeting of March 9, 1795, is the entry: "Voted to 
pay one-half the expences of the Repairs of the Fire Engine in futer." Two 
years later, May 18, 1797, it was "Voted that this Town will beare one-half the 
expences of the new Waggon for conveying the Fire Engine." This partnership 
arrangement with Roxbury continued for a number of years. In 1828 a new 
engine called the "Norfolk" was purchased for $475, of which Brookline paid 
$325 and Roxbury $150. On April 6, 1829, it was "Voted, That a committee be 
chosen to see what amount the Town of Roxbury have allowed for the purchase 
of Hose and Buckets for the New Engine Norfolk, and that this Town meet them 
in any expense not exceeding Fifty Dollars." 

In 1842 the "Norfolk" was sold for $297.40 and the money was divided 
between the two towns in proportion to what each had paid fourteen years before. 
The Town of Brookline then established a department of its own. An engine 
and a supply of hose were purchased and on May 23, 1855, the sum of $1,500 
was appropriated for the erection of a hook and ladder house. In the spring 
of 1864 the question of purchasing a steam fire engine was referred to the select- 
men, who reported that it was "inexpedient to purchase at present, owing to a 
scarcity of accommodations for obtaining a supply of water." 

In 1 87 1 the office of fi reward was abolished and the selectmen authorized to 
appoint a board of fire engineers "in conformity with the General Statutes." The 
same year an appropriation of $14,000 was made for a new engine house on 
Washington Street, to take the place of the old one, and the pay of the depart- 
ment members was increased. Two years later A. Kenrick, Jr., Charles D. Head 
and J. T. Waterman were appointed a committee "to purchase and equip three 
steam fire engines." The committee reported in favor of purchasing but one 
engine, which was obtained and placed in commission at a cost of $6,950. Three 
new reservoirs, in addition to two previously constructed, were ordered built. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 97 

After the waterworks were finished, Charles K. Kirby, Horace James, A. Kenrick, 
Jr., J. T. Waterman and Marshall Russell were appointed a committee "to see 
if the steam fire engine could be dispensed with," but it was finally decided to 
keep the engine ready for use in emergencies. 

On the last day of April, 1877, the selectmen were instructed to "purchase 
and place a hose carriage at Longwood, if there is enough left of the appropria- 
tion for the Fire Department for that purpose." Longwood is a suburb in the 
northwesterly part of the town, where a hose company had been organized some 
time before the above action was taken by the town meeting. On March 20, 1882, 
an appropriation of $10,500 was made to purchase "a horse and chemical engine 
for Longwood." The development of the department since that time has been 
in keeping with the growth of the town, so that Brookline now is well provided 
with trained men and modern equipment for the extinguishment of fires. 

PUNCH BOWL TAVERN 

In the fall of 1640 a bridge was ordered to be built at Muddy River and for 
many years after that time the present Washington Street was one of the principal 
highways leading into Boston. A great many teams from the country west of the 
city passed over the road and a stopping place 'became a necessity. To supply this 
demand John Ellis built the "Punch Bowl Tavern." The original building was 
a two story frame, with hipped roof, to which additions were made from time to 
time by purchasing old houses in Boston and removing them to Brookline to form 
portions of the tavern. Harriet F. Woods, in her Historical Sketches of Brook- 
line, says the house was "a curious medley of old rooms of all sorts and sizes, 
connected together in a nondescript manner and presenting an architectural style, 
which, if we might apply a geological term to it, we should call a conglomerate." 

The house was located near the corner of Pearl Street. Its sign — an oval 
board suspended from a high red post — depicted a large bowl and ladle under a 
lemon tree laden with fruit, some of which lay around the bowl as though fallen 
from the tree. A bench ran along the front under a porch, where the "sages" 
of Brookline met to settle the weighty problems of the day. The selectmen of the 
town used to have annual suppers in this old tavern. About 1833 tne °^ house 
was purchased by Isaac Thayer and torn down. 

An old house on the corner of Washington Street and Brookline Avenue, 
where the offices of the Brookline Gas Company were afterward located, was 
then opened as a tavern under the sign of the "Punch Bowl," but it had none of 
the patronage or prestige of its predecessor. Its patronage was local and inclined 
to be of the disreputable class. On March 25, 1844, the Brookline Town meeting 
adopted the following resolutions regarding this tavern : 

"Whereas, The recent painful and distressing occurrence in the death of 
Robert Noyes from Ardent Spirits, and by the verdict of the jury his death was 
caused 'by liquor obtained at the Punch Bowl and elsewhere,' and 

"Whereas, The location of the Punch Bowl Tavern renders it identified in 
the weal or woe of the Town of Brookline, and by its indiscriminate sale of Ardent 
Spirits is more clearly identified as injurious to the town, producing consequences 
that call loudly on the friends of good order and sobriety, therefore, 

"Resolved, That this meeting view the untimely death of Robert Noyes from 



98 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

intoxication with pain and sorrow, and that as good citizens we will do all in our 
power to prevent a like disastrous occurrence. 

"Resolved, That a committee of twenty be appointed to repair in a body to the 
Punch Bowl Tavern and under sanction and authority of the town remonstrate 
with Mr. J. Sprague, or whoever may have charge, against the indiscriminate 
sale of intoxicating liquors." 

The committee was composed of Samuel A. Walker, A. Ff. Clapp, Daniel 
Sanderson, David Coolidge, Thomas Griggs, Otis Withington, Moses Jones, 
Samuel Goddard, Hugh M. Sanborn, James Bartlett, Caleb Craft, Jr., Joshua M. 
Blanchard, William Hardy, Charles Stearns, Jr., A. W. Goddard, Timothy Corey, 
James Leeds, Harrison Fay, Samuel Craft and Thomas Kendall. The crusade 
thus commenced resulted in the closing of the house a little later. 

BROOKLINE OF THE PRESENT 

Brookline is the wealthiest town in Norfolk County and second in population, 
being exceeded in the latter respect only by Quincy. In 19 15 the assessed valua- 
tion of property was $158,297,618. The population in 19 10 was 27,792, and by 
the state census of 191 5 it was 33,490, a gain of 5,698 in five years. The town has 
three banks with aggregate deposits nearly ten millions of dollars, two weekly 
newspapers, gas and electric light, well paved streets, electric railway lines to 
Boston and the neighboring towns, two lines of steam railway (the Boston & 
Albany and the New York, New Haven & Hartford), a fine public library, an 
excellent public school system and a number of beautiful church edifices. But it 
is as a residential town that Brookline stands preeminent. It is related that many 
years ago a visiting preacher, in the course of his sermon, said : 'T know not, my 
friends, how you can help being Christians, for you already live in paradise." 
The present inhabitants have kept up the reputation established by their ancestors. 
The broad, well kept lawns, the handsome homes and shade trees all combine to 
make Brookline one of the most pleasant towns in the Old Bay State. 



CHAPTER XIII 
THE TOWN OF CANTON 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND DESCRIPTION — EARLY HISTORY — CANTON INCORPO- 
RATED THE PETITION AND ITS SIGNERS — FIRST TOWN MEETING TOWN HALL 

— WATERWORKS — FIRE DEPARTMENT — GAS WORKS — POSTOFFICE — THE DOTY 
TAVERN — EARLY ORDINANCES — CANTON IN I917. , 

A little southeast of the geographical center of Norfolk County is situated the 
Town of Canton. On the north and northwest it is bounded by the Neponset 
River, which separates it from the towns of Norwood, Westwood and Dedham ; 
on the northeast by Milton and Randolph ; southerly by Stoughton ; and on the 
southwest by Sharon. The surface is rolling and in some places hilly, and evi- 
dences of glacial action are to be seen in the ponds, of which there are several in 
the town. Reservoir Pond is located near the center and a little southeast of it 
is a smaller body of water called Muddy Pond. Ponkapoag Pond is on the line 
between Canton and Randolph, while in the southern part are Ice, Ames, Forge, 
Factory and a few smaller ponds. The Pequin River flows into Reservoir Pond, 
Mill Brook into Ames Pond, and there are a number of smaller streams, so that 
all parts of the town are well watered. 

EARLY HISTORY 

The territory now comprising the Town of Canton was originally a part of 
Dorchester. When the latter town (at first called Mattapan) was created in 1630 
it embraced only the little district between Boston and the Neponset River, extend- 
ing to the Massachusetts Bay on the east. In 1636 the General Court granted to 
the Dorchester Plantation some six thousand acres south of the Neponset. This 
was known as the "Unquety Grant" and is now included in the Town of Milton. 
The next year another grant was made to the town, "being all the territory not 
before granted between Dedham and the Plymouth Colony." In this "New 
Grant" were included the present towns of Canton, Stoughton and Sharon, and 
portions of Wrentham and Foxborough. On December 15, 1715, this territory 
was organized as Dorchester South Precinct. Its dismemberment began in 1724, 
when the southwest part was added to the Town of Wrentham, which had been 
incorporated in 1673. Stoughton was incorporated on December 22, 1726, and 
included what are now Stoughton, Canton, Sharon and a large part of Fox- 
borough. On July 2, 1740, the Dorchester Second Precinct was established, 
constituting what are now the towns of Sharon and Foxborough, leaving Stough- 
ton as the old Dorchester South Precinct. Canton then remained a part of 
Stoughton for fifty-seven years longer. 

99 



100 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

CANTON INCORPORATED 

On March 9, 1795, the inhabitants of the First Parish of Stoughton held a 
meeting at the parish church. The thirteenth article to come before the meeting 
was "to see if the parish will petition the General Court to be set off as a sepa- 
rate town." The vote was in the affirmative and Elijah Dunbar, Nathan Crane, 
Joseph Bemis, Benjamin Gill and Elijah Crane were appointed a committee to 
prepare the petition. It was further voted that Colonel Gill, Capt. Elijah Crane 
and Col. Nathan Crane be a committee to present the petition to the General 
Court. Following is the petition : 

"To the Honourable Senate and House of Representatives of the Com'th of 
Mass'tts, in General Court asembled: 

"The Petition of the Subscribers, Inhabitants of the first Parish in the Town 
of Stoughton, in the County of Norfolk in said Com'th, humbly showeth that the 
local situation of said Town of Stoughton is very singular, being near eleven miles 
in length & about four Miles in breadth, as may appear by a Plan thereof, and 
also that there is a large body of land laying upon and contiguous to the line 
between the North and South Parishes, which is and always will be incapable of 
any valuable improvement, which throws the bulk of the Inhabitants of said 
Parishes at a great distance from each other, which peculiar circumstance makes 
it always inconvenient & sometimes impracticable for the Inhabitants of either 
of said Parishes to attend Town Meeting as they have been usually held for some 
years past, by reason of the great distance of way & sometimes impassable roads. 

"Therefore your Petitioners humbly pray that the lands within said first 
Parish & the Inhabitants thereof (except those persons and their property that 
wish to remain with the Town of Stoughton) may be incorporated into a Distinct 
and separate Town. And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, shall ever pray." 

The petition was dated April 17, 1795, and was signed by the following resi- 
dents of the first parish : Thomas Allen, Dudley Bailey, Henry Bailey, Israel 
Bailey, Moses Baker, Joseph Bemis, William Bent, Dan Billing, Isaac Billing, 
John Billing, Jonathan Billing, Nathan Billing, Nathaniel Billing, Peter Billing, 
Samuel Billing, Jacob Billings, Joseph Billings, Stephen Billings, Adam Blackman, 
A.dam Blackman, Jr., George Blackman, John Blackman, Samuel Blackman, 
Stephen Blake, Benjamin Bussey, Samuel Canterbury, John Capen, Samuel 
Capen, Joseph Chandler, Calvin Crane, Elijah Crane, Elijah Crane, 2nd, Henry 
Crane, Jarathiel Crane, Nathan Crane, Silas Crane, William Crane, George 
Crossman, Lemuel Davenport, Enoch Dickerman, Edward Downs, Oliver 
Downs, Elijah Dunbar, John Dunlop, Elijah Endicott, James Endicott, Jonathan 
Farrington, Charles Fenno, Elijah Fenno, Abel Fisher, Ezekiel Fisher, Lemuel 
Fisher, Nathaniel Fisher, Thomas French, Benjamin Gill, Elijah Gill, John Gill, 
Samuel Gooch, Richard Gridley, David Hartwell, Elisha Hawes, Joseph Henry, 
Judah Henry, Joses Hill, Nathaniel Hill, Ebenezer Holmes, Comfort Hoyton, 
Ephraim Hunt, Ezekiel Johnson, Ephraim Jones, George Jordan, John Kenney, 
John Kenney, Jr., Nathaniel Kenney, Fisher Kingsbury, Rodolpis Kinsley, Silas 
Kinsley, Enoch Leonard, Uriah Leonard, Benjamin Lewis, James H. Lewis, Laban 
Lewis, Benjamin Lyon, Archibald McKendry, William McKendry, John Madden, 
Luther May, Henry Morse, Henry Morse, Jr., John Morse, Samuel Morse, Samuel 
Morse, Jr., Nathaniel Pitt, Abel Puffer, Elijah Puffer, John Puffer, James Reed, 




PAUL REVERE HOUSE, CANTON 




HIGH SCHOOL, CANTON 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 101 

Michael Shaller, Nathaniel Shepard, Oliver Shepard, Thomas Shepard, William 
Shepard, Ephraim Smith, James Smith, Lemuel Smith, Redmon Spurr, Joseph 
Stearns, George Stone, Seth Strobridge, Samuel Strobridge, Benjamin Sylvester, 
David Talbot, John Tant, John Tant, Jr., Lemuel Tant, Peter Thayer, Jr., Josiah 
Tilden, Nahaniel Tilden, Benjamin Tucker, Daniel Tucker, James Tucker, John 
Tucker, Samuel Tucker, Samuel Tucker, Jr., Simeon Tucker, Amos Upham, Sam- 
uel Wales, Abel Wentworth, Arunah Wentworth, Benjamin Wentworth, Elijah 
Wentworth, Oliver Wentworth, Paul Wentworth, Seth Wentworth, John 
Wentworth, Nathaniel Wentworth, Samuel Wheeler, William Wheeler, Lemuel 
Whiting, Nathaniel Whiting, Philip Whiting, Richard Wild, Jonathan Withington. 
The petition was presented to the General Court on June n, 1795, by Benjamin 
Gill, Elijah Crane and Nathan Crane, the committee appointed for that purpose. 
Stoughtcn appointed a committee, consisting of James Pope, Samuel Talbot, 
Joseph Richards and Samuel Shepard, to oppose this petition. Among the argu- 
ments advanced by the Stoughton committee was the fact that the petition was 
signed by one hundred and forty-three persons, when there were but one hundred 
and forty legal voters in the parish. The whole question was postponed until 
the next session of the General Court. On January 20, 1796, Stoughton pre- 
sented a remonstrance signed by Lemuel Drake and one hundred and sixty-nine 
others. This gave the petitioners a chance to retaliate, by showing that the remon- 
strance contained fifteen more names than there were legal voters in the second 
parish, and that several of the names thereon were those of residents of the first 
parish, who had previously signed the petition. On June 10, 1796, the committee 
of the first parish and that of the Town of Stoughton agreed that the matter 
should be referred to a special committee, composed of Senator Seth Bullard, 
Representative Joseph Hewins of Sharon, and Judge Bullock of Rehoboth. Act- 
ing under instructions from the General Court, this committee visited Stoughton 
and spent several days in looking over the town, hearing arguments pro and con, 
and on September 3, 1796, made a report in favor of granting the prayer of the 
petitioners. The report was accepted and on February 23, 1797, the act incorpo- 
rating the Town of Canton was approved. 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

Thomas Crane, a justice of the peace, issued his warrant on February 24, 
1797, to Laban Lewis, requiring him to warn the legal voters to assemble at the 
meeting house in Canton on the 6th of March "at one of the clock P. M., then 
and there to choose all such officers as towns are required by law to elect." At 
the meeting held in pursuance of this warrant, Elijah Dunbar was chosen modera- 
tor; Elijah Crane, Benjamin Tucker and Nathan Crane were chosen selectmen 
and assessors ; Elijah Crane, clerk ; Joseph Bemis, treasurer. No further business 
was transacted at this meeting. 

TOWN HALL 

For many years after the town was incorporated the town meetings were held 
in the First Parish meeting house and the different officials had their offices at 
their residences or places of business. Then the meeting place was changed to 



102 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the Baptist Church at Canton Center, and when that denomination erected a new 
house of worship at South Canton in 1837 the old one was purchased by the 
town for $650. It was a small building, but it was Canton's first town house and 
the public business was transacted there for more than forty years. 

At the annual town meeting in April, 1878, a committee, consisting of one 
member from each of the school districts, was appointed to select a location 
and procure plans for the erection of a new town hall. The committee was 
composed of William Horton, Elisha Horton, Frank M. Ames, Ellis Tucker, 
George E. Downes, Thomas Lonergan and James S. Shepard. On June 17, 
1878, the committee reported and after some discussion it was decided to locate 
the new hall on the corner of Washington and Depot streets, where Elijah 
A. Morse offered to donate the ground for a site. Frank M. Ames, James S. 
Shepard, Elisha Horton, Edward R. Eager and Joseph W. Wattles were 
appointed a committee to take a deed of the land in behalf of the town, and 
to select a plan from some of those submitted to that meeting. The design 
submitted by Stephen C. Earle, an architect of Boston, was selected and the 
same committee was continued to superintend the erection of the building, "to 
be known as Memorial Hall." 

The structure is 62 by 101 feet in dimensions, two stories high, with base- 
ment under the entire building. The foundation walls and the steps at the 
main entrances are of Concord granite. The walls of the superstructure are 
of brick, laid in black mortar, and the trimmings are of Longmeadow freestone. 
On the first floor are the offices of the clerk, treasurer, selectmen, etc., and a 
large fireproof vault for the safekeeping of the public records. For about 
twenty years the public library also occupied quarters on this floor. In the main 
corridor are the memorial tablets, bearing the names of the Canton soldiers 
who sacrificed their lives upon their country's altar in the War of the Rebel- 
lion. These tablets were presented to the town by Elijah A. Morse. Over the 
door to the corridor is the inscription : "Erected to commemorate the patriotism 
of the soldiers of Canton, who fell in defence of the Union in the War of the 
Rebellion," and over the tablets is a transom running the full width, in the 
center of which are the dates "1861-1865," with the motto: "It is sweet and 
honorable to die for one's country." On the second floor is a public hall 58 by 
67 feet, with a large stage at one end. The seating capacity of this hall — main 
floor and gallery — is about eight hundred, though on special occasions the doors 
between the anterooms and the stage can be opened, making room for over 
one thousand. 

At the time it was voted to erect a new hall, an appropriation of $31,000 
was made to pay for the erection of the building and the improvements of the 
grounds. The actual cost, including the expenses of the dedicatory ceremonies, 
was $30,961.12, leaving a balance of $38.88, which was turned back into the 
town treasury. On October 30, 1879, the people turned out in large numbers 
to be present at the dedication of their new hall. The address on that occasion 
was delivered by Charles Endicott and short speeches were made by a number 
of prominent men, among whom were Governor Talbot, Secretary of State 
Peirce, Charles Adams, ex-treasurer of state, and Elijah A. Morse, who donated 
the ground upon which the building is situated. In 1916 the selectmen awarded 
a contract to Martin F. Burke to install a new heating plant at a cost of $3,500. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 103 

WATERWORKS 

The Canton Waterworks were established in 1887 and were paid for by 
a bond issue, of which the sum of $59,000 was outstanding on January 1, 1917. 
In their twenty-ninth annual report, for the year ending on December 31, 
1916, the board of water commissioners — Michael F. Ward, James A. O'Leary 
and Walter S. Draper — give the total cost of the works up to that time as 
$335,258.37. During the year 1916 a new standpipe was erected at Ponkapoag 
at a cost of $10,359, an d $9°5-78 was expended in repairing and painting the 
old one. The sources of supply are Henry's Springs at Springdale, and the 
State Board of Health has pronounced the water to be of excellent quality. 
During the twenty-nine years since the works were first completed the mains 
have been extended, until at the close of 1916 there were over thirty miles in 
use. The number of gallons pumped in 1916 was 110,198,000. The report for 
that year shows 251 hydrants and nearly twelve hundred customers. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

In the beginning Canton's fire department differed but little from that of 
the other towns of Norfolk County — a volunteer company and a hand fire 
engine that could cope with fires of moderate magnitude, but were powerless 
against great conflagrations. As the town grew in importance and the property 
valuation increased proportionately, the people were not slow to recognize the 
necessity of better means of extinguishing fires. After the waterworks were 
built in 1887, regular hose companies were organized and a number of men 
paid by the town were kept constantly on duty. In 1895 a ^ re al arm system 
was installed. At the annual meeting in 191 5 it was voted to purchase two 
auto combination trucks and the selectmen were instructed to carry out the 
order. Ten companies submitted bids on the apparatus, but the board accepted 
that of the Kissel Kar Company, which offered to furnish the two trucks for 
$6,500. One of these trucks was installed at the Central Fire Station and the 
other at Ponkapoag. The latter answers all fire alarms at Canton Corner. 

At the close of the year 1916 the board of fire engineers was composed of 
Frederic P. Drake, chief. Ralph C. Crowell and Owen Galligan. In their 
annual report they give the equipment as one steam fire engine, two motor com- 
bination trucks, and three hose companies, each stationed in a house of its own. 
All members of the department were placed under civil service by a vote of 
the annual town meeting on March 6, 1916. The appropriation for that year 
was $4,800, exclusive of the amount paid for the two new trucks ordered the 
preceding year. During the year 1916 the department answered sixteen calls, 
in which the value of property involved was over forty thousand dollars, but 
the loss was only $5,280, fully covered by insurance. No better evidence is 
necessary as to the efficiency of the department. 

gas works 

Early in the year 1916 a public meeting was held in Lower Memorial Hall 
to consider the question of granting a franchise to the Brockton Gas Light 



104 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Company to furnish the town with gas. It was the sense of the meeting that 
the franchise should he granted and the board of selectmen was instructed 
accordingly. The board then awarded the franchise on a basis of $1.40 per 
1,000 cubic feet of gas for the term of four years, with a reduction of five cents 
every two years thereafter until a minimum price of $1.20 is reached, "or fifteen 
cents in excess of the then prevailing price in the City of Brockton." 

On April 25, 191 7, ground was broken at the junction of the boundary 
lines of Canton, Stoughton and Sharon. The board of selectmen — Joseph A. 
Murphy, Ernest Guild and Thomas D. Mullin — the members of the Canton 
Board of Trade, which was the first to advocate gas, and a large number of the 
town's citizens were present. J. B. Anderson made a short address, in which 
he outlined the growth of Canton and declared the event to be a fitting one in 
commemoration of the town's 120th anniversary. Chairman Murphy, of the 
selectmen, Postmaster John J. Haverty, George H. Priest, representing the gas 
company, and others made short talks. 

POSTOFFICES 

The first postoffice in Canton was established in the northern part of the 
town, but just when, or who was the first postmaster cannot be ascertained. 
The records of the office date back only to the close of the Civil war. Rufus 
Wood was appointed postmaster in 1866. He was succeeded in turn by Fred 
E. Holmes, Thomas F. Lyons, Fred E. Holmes, Bartholomew Doody, Emery 
Britton, Francis D. Dunbar and the present postmaster (1917), John J. Hav- 
erty. The office now employs the postmaster, assistant postmaster, one clerk, 
four local and one rural carriers. In April, 191 6, the postoffice at Ponkapoag 
was made a sub-station of the Canton office, which is now the only one in the 
town. Formerly there were two rural routes, but these have been consolidated 
and in June, 1917, Canton enjoyed the distinction of having the only motor 
rural route in the State of Massachusetts. Free delivery was inaugurated in 
191 1. The annual receipts of the office amount to about fourteen thousand 
dollars, and the postal savings department carries deposits of over twenty-eight 
thousand dollars. 

THE DOTY T/VERN 

For many years there stood a little south of the base of the Blue Hill a 
quaint old building, two stories high, with a large attic under its gambrel roof 
and two large stone chimneys. It was built by John Shepard early in the 
Eighteenth Century and kept by him as a tavern in 1726. At the time of the 
Revolution it was conducted by Col. Thomas Doty, better known as "Tom," of 
whom it was said "He kept the best viands and could mix the best glass of grog 
of any landlord in all the country around." Under his management the house 
became widely known as "Doty's Tavern," the location of which was known to 
every stage driver in Eastern Massachusetts. 

When the various towns of Suffolk County chose delegates in 1774, to meet 
and consider the general conditions then prevailing, it was not deemed safe to 
meet in Boston, which was then in the hands of the British soldiery, and 




CANTON PUBLIC LIBRARY 




MASSACHUSETTS HOSPITAL SCHOOL, CAXT< >X 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 105 

Dr. (afterward Gen.) Joseph Warren recommended Doty's Tavern as a quiet 
spot where the convention was not likely to be molested. Warren had stopped 
at the tavern and was acquainted with the proprietor. The result of his recom- 
mendations was that the first meeting of the "Suffolk Congress" was held at 
this tavern on August 16, 1774. Norfolk County had not yet been organized 
and the territory now comprising it was then all in the County of Suffolk. A 
second meeting of the congress was held at Dedham on September 6, 1774, and 
three days later, at a third meeting held at the house of Daniel Vose. in the 
Town of Milton, was adopted the famous "Suffolk Resolves," which paved 
the way for the Declaration of Independence two years later. The Doty Tavern 
was destroyed by fire on December 19, 1888. General Lafayette stopped at 
this house while on his way from Taunton to Boston during the Revolution, 
and John Adams and John Hancock were guests of Col. "Tom" Doty at various 
times. 

EARLY ORDINANCES 

Some of the early ordinances or orders of the town meetings may seem 
strange to the people of the present generation. Canton was incorporated in 
February, 1797, and the annual town meeting of the following year appro- 
priated $1,000 for highways, $500 for the maintenance of schools, $600 for 
general expenses, and $300 "to clapboard the back end of the meeting house, 
the back side of the belfry, also to paint the house." In the warrant for the 
town meeting for 1799 an article was inserted "to see if the town will procure 
and set up a stove in the meeting house, for the convenience and comfort of 
those who attend public worship in the winter season." The article was dis- 
missed, as the sentiment that church congregations should defray their own 
expenses was already finding a lodgment in the minds of many of the citizens. 

At the annual meeting on March 7, 1808, it was "Voted that a bounty of 
one dollar per head or tail for every Rattlesnake absolutely taken and killed 
within the months of April, May & October the present year." In his address 
on July 4, 1876, Charles Endicott referred to this bounty as follows: "Prac- 
tically this was very much like offering a bounty of two dollars for each snake 
killed, and very likely it was found to be so, for the next year the town voted 
the same sum for rattlesnakes tails only, and cautioned the treasurer 'to guard 
against deception when he is applied to for such bounties.' " 

canton in 1917 

Early in the history of the town Canton came into prominence as a manu- 
facturing center, and it is still one of the active manufacturing towns of Norfolk 
County. The first factory in the State of Massachusetts for making cotton 
goods by machinery was established in this town in 1803. Paul Revere & Son 
had established a copper-works two years before, where bells and cannon were 
cast. Silks, cordage and woolen goods were among the early manufactured 
products, and some of the factories established a century or more ago are still 
in operation, though in some cases the character of their products has been 
materially .altered. A more detailed account of these establishments will be 
found in another chapter. 



106 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

In 1910 the population of Canton was 4,797, and in 191 5 the state census 
reported a population of 5,623, a gain of 826 in five years. On April 1, 1916, 
the board of assessors reported the valuation of property as $7,038,466, and 
the estimated value of the town property, school houses, town hall, waterworks, 
etc., as $602,000. Canton has two banks, a weekly newspaper (the Journal), 
churches of various denominations, a fine public library, seven public school 
buildings valued at $140,000, in which twenty-four teachers are employed ; a 
number of well-stocked mercantile establishments ; an active and energetic board 
of trade, steam and electric railway lines, good public highways, an almshouse 
for the care of the poor, etc. 

At the beginning of the year 1917 the principal town officers were as follows: 
Selectmen and Overseers of the Poor, Ernest A. Guild, Thomas D. Mullen and 
Joseph A. Murphy ; Assessors, Matthew E. Callahan, Frederic P. Drake and 
Ernest A. Guild ; Clerk, Walter Ames ; Treasurer and Tax Collector, Robert 
Bird ; Auditors, James E. Grimes, H. E. Beal and Peter Callery ; Water Commis- 
sioners, Michael F. Ward, Walter S. Draper and James O'Leary ; School Com- 
mittee, George H. Capen, Augustus Hemenway, I. C. Horton, H. L. Fenno, 
Thomas J. Hill, E. L. Underwood, Charles H. French, Francis A. Ryan and 
Frederic H. Bisbee ; Constables, John H. Flood and John Bowerman ; High- 
way Surveyor, John Buckley, Jr. 



CHAPTER XIV 
THE TOWN OF COHASSET 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION FIRST WHITE MEN AND SETTLEMENT DIVIDING THE LAND 

THE HINGHAM REBELLION DISTRICT OF COHASSET FIRST TOWN MEETING 

TOWN HALL COHASSET WATER COMPANY FIRE DEPARTMENT ELECTRIC 

LIGHT MISCELLANEOUS. - 

By the act of March 26, 1793, establishing the County of Norfolk, the towns 
of Hingham and Hull were included in the new county. Before the act went 
into effect, the people of these two towns presented a petition to the General 
Court, asking that they be permitted to remain a part of Plymouth County. 
The petition was granted and on June 20, 1793, the very day the law went into 
effect, that portion of the act relating to Hingham and Hull was repealed. This 
left Cohasset detached from the main body of Norfolk County. On the north, 
south and west it is bounded by parts of Plymouth County, and on the east 
by the waters of Massachusetts Bay. Cohasset is noted for its rocky coast 
line, and' for the number of shipwrecks that occurred there during the days of 
the old sailing vessels. The Indian name of this part of the coast was "Cono- 
hasset" (sometimes written Quonahassit), which means "long, rocky place." 
Along the sea shore the scenery is rather picturesque, the rocky bluffs being 
indented by numerous bays and coves, among which are Cohasset Harbor, Sandy 
Cove, Little Harbor and "The Gulf.'' There are no streams of consequence in 
the town, though in the southern part is Lily or Great Pond, a pretty little 
body of fresh water. 

FIRST WHITE MEN 

Capt. John Smith, who visited Cohasset Harbor on his voyage of 1614, was 
the first man to make a report on this part of the Massachusetts coast. He 
traded with the Indians of Cohasset, from whom he purchased "neer 1,100 bever 
skins, 100 martins and neer as many otters.'' 

Among the Indians living in what is now the Town of Cohasset there was 
a faint tradition that white men had been there prior to the visit of Captain 
Smith. In 1568 about one hundred men were abandoned on the coast of the 
Gulf of Mexico by Capt. John Hawkins. David Ingram and two others of 
the marooned men started northward and by following the Indian trails reached 
the New England coast. Subsequently Ingram was rescued by the crew of a 
French vessel, who found him on the shores of New Brunswick. From the 
story told by him to his rescuers, it is possible that he and his two associates 
were the white men of the Cohasset Indian tradition. 

107 



108 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

In 1633 Edmond Hobart, with his wife, his son Joshua and his two daugh- 
ters, Sarah and Rebekah, came from Hingham, England, and landed at Charles- 
town. Later in the same year they were joined by Edmond Hobart, Jr., his 
wife, his brother Thomas, with his wife and three children, Thomas Lincoln 
and Nicholas Jacob, all from Hingham, England. Most of the available land 
about Charlestown had been allotted to those who came earlier, and the new- 
comers began looking about for a suitable place to found a new settlement. They 
selected the place called Bare Cove, on the inside of the Nantasket peninsula. 
Under the order of 1629, any man who would cross the Atlantic at his own 
expense was to be given fifty acres of land. The settlers at Bare Cove availed 
themselves of this order and on September 25, 1634, the little colony there was 
taxed four pounds as a plantation. 

On June 8, 1635, twenty-eight more persons arrived at Charlestown. Among 
them was Rev. Peter Hobart, a son of Edmond Hobart, Sr., and a graduate of 
Cambridge College, England. This company joined the colony at Bare Cove, 
the name of which was changed to Hingham on September 2, 1635. Rev. Peter 
Hobart was asked to become the pastor of several of the early churches, but cast 
his lot with the settlement at Hingham, where he was the first minister. 

On April 19, 1637, Thomas Loring, Clement Bates, Nicholas Jacob and 
Joseph Andrews were granted a monopoly of the herring fisheries of the river 
"over towards Cohasset," called "Lyford's Liking." Lyford was an Irish 
preacher who came to Plymouth in 1624, but was dismissed from that colony 
for treachery. In 1625 he settled near the mouth of this stream, which doubt- 
less derived its name on account of his "liking" the location. After Loring 
and his associates built their fish weir, the stream took the name of Weir River, 
which it still bears. One condition of their monopoly was that they should 
"sell fish at not more than ten shillings and sixpence per thousand." 

Some time in the year 1637 the settlement at Hingham adopted the system 
of having nine picked men to manage the affairs of the colony. The first 
men selected for this purpose were: Edward Hobart, Sr., Nicholas Jacob, 
Clement Bates, Henry Tuttle, Thomas Hammond, Anthony Eames, Henry Rust, 
Samuel Ward and Thomas Underwood. They had authority "to receive any 
person into the municipality ; to give, grant, let & set, all for the good of the 
whole," but had not the power to fix the rate of taxation. A rule was adopted 
that if any one of these nine men should fail to attend a meeting he should be 
fined "one peck of Indian corn." 

The nearest place where the settlers of Hingham could have their corn 
ground into meal was the little corn mill in what is now the Town of Weymouth. 
A bare trail was the only road to the mill and it sometimes happened that a 
settler would fall a tree and leave its trunk lying across the pathway. On April 
11, 1637, the people decreed at a meeting that if any man should fall a tree 
across the road, so that a horse and cart could not pass, he should be fined twelve 
pence. 

At the beginning of the year 1638 the population of Hingham was forty-two. 
In that year the ship "Diligent" brought over 133 immigrants to seek homes. 
Several of them were mechanics, who brought their tools with them, and quite 
a number of the newcomers settled in Hingham, the mechanics especially proving 
a welcome addition to the little community. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 109 

DIVIDING THE LAND 

As early as 1637 the people of Hingham went to the Cohasset marshes to har- 
vest hay for their live stock. The first individual ownership of land within the 
present Town of Cohasset were the grassy plains called Turkey Meadows, at 
the foot of Turkey Hill. On March 5, 1638, these meadows were parceled out 
to some of the settlers in lots of about fifteen acres each, in order that they might 
be certain of a supply of hay for their cattle. During the next two years there 
was a marked increase in the number of inhabitants, and on July 6, 1640, it was 
"agreed by joint consent that after the newcomers and others, which come short, 
the old planters' accommodations be made up by equal proportions, according to 
their stocks and necessities — that the remaining part of Conyhasset shall be 
divided by equal proportions according to the men's heads and stocks, twenty-five 
pounds in stock to go by equal proportion to a head." 

Although the language used in framing this agreement is somewhat ambigu- 
ous, the settlers seemed to understand just what it meant, as they divided the 
land without dispute under its provisions, a man who possessed live stock worth 
twenty-five pounds receiving twice as much land as the one who owned no live 
stock. Nine men were chosen to make the division, viz. : Joseph Peck, Nicholas 
Jacob, Henry Smith, Edmond Pitts, John Parker, Henry Tuttle, Nicholas Baker, 
Thomas Hammond and Clement Bates. By this division each of the newcomers 
secured a small tract of the Cohasse't meadows. Joseph Peck and Nicholas Jacob 
were evidently men of some prominence among the pioneers. The meadow lands 
drawn by them in the division of 1640 still bear their names. Peck's meadow is 
situated at the foot of the Richardson Hill on the north side, along the Jerusalem 
Road, and Jacob's meadow is crossed by South Main Street, not far from the 
Catholic Church. 

On February 28, 1648, Thomas Hammond, Clement Bates, Joshua Hobart, 
Nicholas Jacob, William Hersey, Anthony Eames, John Otis, Matthew Cushing 
and Joseph Underwood were appointed to make a second division of the "Cohasset 
Meadows," or that portion of them that had not been allotted to settlers in the 
division of 1640. Among those who received tracts of meadow land in this divi- 
sion were : Thomas Andrews, Nathan Baker, Clement Bates, Thomas Barnes, 
James Buck, William Chapman, Mark Eames, Francis James, Philip James, 
Andrew Lane, Matthew Lane, Thomas Lincoln (cooper), Thomas Lincoln (car- 
penter), John Morrick, David Phippeny, William Ripley, Thomas Thaxter, John 
Tower, Joseph Underwood, Edward Wilder and Ralph Woodward. 

Surveyors of the present day would probably look with disdain upon the 
methods employed by the nine men selected to divide the Cohasset meadows in 
1640 and 1648. With chain and wooden stakes, they measured and marked off 
the marshes in the neighborhood of Little Harbor, and in the case of some irregu- 
larly shaped pieces of land they "guessed" at the number of acres. They were 
guided in their work, however, by a spirit of fairness and impartiality, and if any 
dissatisfaction arose over the division it has not been made a matter of record. 

There still remained some undivided land in what is now the Town of 
Cohasset after the action of February, 1648. On July 4, 1665, the three sons 
of the Indian sachem, Chickatabot, deeded the lands now comprising Hingham 
and Cohasset to Joshua Hubbard (or Hobart) and John Thaxter for the inhabi- 



110 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

tants. The consideration named in that deed was satisfied by granting twelve 
acres "on Turkey Hill, on the north side of a way leading to Scituate, to Lieut. 
John Smith and Deacon John Leavitt, on condition that they satisfy all the charge 
about the purchase of the Town's land," etc. 

At a meeting held on January 17, 1670, about four and a half years after the 
Indian title was extinguished, the settlers "determined to throw the whole of their 
undivided lands into seven hundred shares, and then distribute those shares by 
an open vote, and afterwards to survey the land, giving pieces to each shareholder 
according to the number of his shares." 

Under this arrangement there were about fourteen hundred acres of land to 
be distributed, hence each share entitled the holder to approximately two acres. 
Daniel Cushing, then the town clerk, received thirty-five shares, the largest num- 
ber given to a single individual by the "open vote." Peter Hobart, pastor of the 
church, received twenty-five shares; Joshua Hobart, eighteen; John Thaxter, 
sixteen and a half; John Smith and Nathan Baker, fifteen shares each; John 
Leavitt, fourteen and a half; John Ripley and Jeremiah Beal, thirteen each; 
Thomas Hobart, John Beal, Sr., Thomas Lincoln (husbandman), Edmond 
Hobart, John Tucker, Thomas Lincoln (carpenter), Edmond Pitts, Thomas 
Andrews and John Otis, ten shares each; the other participants being awarded 
from three to eight shares each, except Clement Bates, Jr., who received but one 
share. 

THE HINGHAM REBELLION 

In 1644, several years prior to the division of the Cohasset lands, Anthony 
Eames, lieutenant of the militia, became so disgusted at the awkwardness dis- 
played by the local company that he used some sarcastic language and refused to 
drill the men. Eames had been elected captain, but had not yet been confirmed. 
To punish him the members of the company held a meeting and elected Bozoan 
Allen in his place. The colonial authorities refused to concur in this action, 
which meant that Eames must remain at the head of the company until the next 
session of the General Court. Two-thirds of the company refused to drill under 
Eames and the Boston magistrates issued warrants for the arrest of the offenders. 
Five men were arrested — three of them members of the Hobart family — and by 
order of Deputy-Governor Winthrop two were lodged in jail. 

When the General Court met ninety men from Hingham and Cohasset ap- 
peared with a petition asking that Winthrop be tried for exceeding his authority in 
committing the men to jail. Rev. Peter Hobart, pastor of the church, was at 
the head of this movement, and Joshua Hobart was also quite active. The latter 
was fined twenty-five pounds. A smaller fine was imposed upon the pastor, on 
account of his calling, but he refused to pay and his fine was increased to twenty- 
five pounds. Altogether the penalties levied against the recalcitrants amounted to 
one hunderd and twenty-five pounds. The incident disturbed the peace of Hingham 
for several years. The people stood by their pastor, paid his fines, and apparently 
regarded him with more esteem than before the affair. Some years afterwards 
he was forbidden to preach in Boston, the magistrates assigning as the reason 
that "He is a bold man and will speak his mind." Hon. Thomas Russell, in an 
address delivered at the centennial anniversary of Cohasset, May 7, 1870, in re- 
ferring to this controversy, said : 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 111 

"We lose patience as we read the story of this contest. We smile at the 
superstitious bigotry of Winthrop, who finds a Providential interposition when 
some Hingham men made light of the colony's fast and, attempting to take a raft 
to Boston, were delayed a month by bad weather. But while we criticise and 
smile, we should remember that Hobart and his friends were believed to threaten 
the powers and rulers of the province, and that such threats imperiled the right 
of self-government. We know, also, that they were dreaded because they troubled 
the churches, and those that troubled the churches were believed to endanger 
souls. On both sides we find error, on both sides sincerity — the great manly 
virtue from which all virtue springs. There have been men of gentler disposition 
than Peter Hobart, of more enlightened views than Governor Winthrop, of more 
refined taste, of more graceful speech than any of the Pilgrim Fathers ; but those 
men have no New England for their monument." 

While the turmoil was at its height a few Hingham families left the town 
to find peace in some other locality. Lieutenant Eames was ostracized for a time 
by a majority of the militia company and their intimate friends, but it seems he 
was restored to the good graces of the community, as he was one of the nine men 
appointed to divide the lands in February, 1648. And after all, the spirit which 
moved the people of Hingham and Cohasset to protest against the sarcasm of 
their military commander and what they regarded as the tyranny of Governor 
Winthrop, was the same spirit of independence which cemented the American 
colonies together more than a century later in their resistance to British oppres- 
sion, a resistance which culminated in the Revolution and resulted in the estab- 
lishment of a republic. 

DISTRICT OF COHASSET 

Early in the Eighteenth century the few settlers in Cohasset became dissatis- 
fied because of the great distance they had to go to attend church or to send their 
children to school. In 171 1 the Hingham tax list showed that there were thirty- 
six people in Cohasset against whom poll taxes were assessed. The taxable 
property of that year consisted of "22 dwelling houses, 48 oxen, 78 cows, 31 horses, 
213 sheep and 14 hoggs." The total tax was about fifty-four pounds. As the 
residents of that section of the town paid a considerable portion of the taxes, they 
asked to be relieved of part of the burden and permitted to establish a church 
and school within easy distance. In response to this request, the Hingham town 
meeting of May 14, 1713, voted "That the Inhabitants of Conahasset shall have 
Liberty to get up and erect a meeting house there on that land called the Plain." 

While the citizens of the Town of Hingham were willing to allow the peti- 
tioners the privilege of building a church, they failed to remit any part of the 
tax, consequently the people of Cohasset did not "get up and erect a meeting 
house." On March 7, 1715, they submitted three propositions to the Hingham 
town meeting, to-wit : First, that the eastern portion of the town be made a 
separate precinct, so the people there could tax themselves for the support of a 
church and school ; second, that they be allowed something out of the town treasury 
to help maintain a church; third, the abatement of the sum paid to the minister 
in Hingham. All these propositions were rejected by the town meeting. 

In June, 17 15, a committee was appointed by the General Court "to repair to 



112 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Hingham and have a town meeting called for the purpose of securing satisfaction 
for the Conohasset pioneers." The meeting was held the following month, at 
which it was voted "That the inhabitants of Conohasset, that is to say the in- 
habitants of the First Division and Second Division & part of the Third Division 
of Conohasset upland to the fifty-fourth lot of the Second Part of the Third 
Division, be freed from time to time from paying toward the support of a minister 
in Hingham during the time that they provide an orthodox minister among them- 
selves, provided they cheerfully accept of the same." 

But the inhabitants of Conohasset did not "cheerfully accept" for the reason 
they considered the burden imposed was too heavy for them to bear. In March, 

1716, the Town of Hingham voted "to allow £17. 19s. 6d. out of the town treasury 
towards maintaining the worship of God in Conohasset." That sum represented 
Cohasset's share of the church and school taxes for the preceding year and the 
money was ordered to be paid to John Jacob. It appears that Mr. Jacob, probably 
advised by some of his neighbors, refused to accept the money, and in February, 

1717, the town was again asked to establish a precinct. In the summer of that 
year a committee appointed by the General Court again visited the town to investi- 
gate the conditions. Upon the report of this committee the Court passed an act 
on November 21, 1717, creating a precinct of Cohasset, "alias Little Hingham," 
and setting off the inhabitants in the matter of church and school. 

The first meeting in the new precinct or parish was held on July 14, 1718, 
Daniel Lincoln presiding as moderator and Thomas James acting as clerk. The 
principal business transacted at this meeting was that of accepting the act estab- 
lishing the precinct. At a subsequent meeting a fast was appointed for the third 
Thursday in April, 1719, in order to call a minister to the parish. Mr. Pierpont 
was then called and Mr. Spear in the spring of 1721. No regular minister was 
settled, however, until September, 1721, when Nehemiah Hobart was installed 
as pastor. In 1727 the precinct petitioned the General Court for liberty to apply 
taxes to the support of schools, which was granted, and the first school was 
opened in the fall of 1728. 

During the next quarter of a century the population grew steadily and at 
a meeting held on February 11, 1751, "A vote was tryed whether we should 
Petetion the other parte of ye Town that we might be Sett off a distinct District 
or Township — Passed in ye affirmative." John Stephenson, Samuel Cushing and 
Isaac Lincoln were appointed a committee to present the petition at the Hingham 
town meeting in May, where it was "Passed in ye negative." Similar action was 
taken by a precinct meeting on March 4. 1752, with the understanding that if 
Hingham again refused consent the question should be taken to the General Court. 
At the Hingham town meeting on May 14, 1752, the petition was rejected, but 
the records do not show that the question was at that time carried to the General 
Court. Another efTort was made in March, 1753, when the original committee was 
reappointed and instructed to "get the matter before the General Court," but in 
this instance the records are also silent as to the general result. 

Repeated rebuffs had discouraged some of the people of little Hingham and 
they became somewhat indifferent on the subject. Enough maintained their 
interest, however, to present the "double barreled" petition again in March, 
1756, one to the Town of Hingham and the other to the General Court. 
At the Hingham town meeting on May 19, 1756, the petition was again rejected 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 113 

and the question then lay dormant for about twelve years. Then the following 
petition was prepared : 

"Hingham, Jan. ye 2th, 1768. 
"To Capt. Daniel Lincoln, Mr. Jazaniah Nichols and Mr. Thomas Lothrop, 

Parish Committee for calling meetings, &sf. 
"Gentlemen — We the subscribers apprehending that it will be for the advant- 
age of the Inhabitants in the Second Parish of Hingham to be made a District Do 
hereby Apply to you in behalf of Our Selves and others Requesting that you 
would forth with Call a Legal Meeting of sd Inhabitants To See whether they 
will vote to apply to the Town at theire Annual Meeting next March to bee in- 
corporated or Set off as aforesaid. 

"There to chuse a Committtee in order to make the Application to the Town 
and also to transact any other matters or things that Shall there Bee thought Con- 
ducive to Accomplish this Beneficial End wee have in view, as Wittness our Hands. 
"Daniel Tower, John Stephenson, Isaac Lincoln, Solomon Bates, Amos Joy, 
John Wilcott, Israel Whitcom, Samuel Cushing, Jonathan Near, John Stephen- 
son, Jr., Isaac Lincoln, Sr., Jonathan Pratt, James Litchfield, Mordecai Lincoln, 
Obadiah Lincoln, David Marble, Jr., Israel Whitcom, Jr., Job Whitcom, Lot 
Whitcom, John Pratt, Joshua Bates, Abel Kent, Thomas Lincoln, Price Prichart, 
Micah Nichols, James Hall, Cushing Kilby, Uriah Oakes, Charles Ripley, Morde- 
cai Bates, Elisha Bates, Laz Beal, Jr., Nehemiah Bates, Newcomb Bourn, Jonathan 
Beals, Mijah Clapp, Thomas Pratt, Solomon Cushing, Benjamin Stetson, Heze- 
kiah Lincoln, Benjamin Beals, Richard Tower, Caleb Joy, Noah Nichols, Joseph 
Bates, Isaac Tower, Enoch Stodard, James Stodard, Philip James, Abner Bates, 
James Bates, Joshua Burr, John Beal, Isaac Burr, Thomas Nichols, Job Tower, 
James Stetson, John Tower, Daniel Tower, Jr." 

In response to this petition a meeting was called for January 25, 1768, at 
which it was voted to petition Hingham and the General Court for a charter and 
"to be invested with all the Libertys and Privileges of a Town, that of sending a 
Representative to the General Court only excepted, and that they have the Liberty 
of joining with ye Town of Hingham in the choice of a Representative from time 
to time." 

Isaac Lincoln, Jr., John Stephenson, Jr., and Laz Beal, Jr., were appointed a 
committee to lay the matter before the Hingham town meeting. When that meet- 
ing assembled, Hingham refused the request of the petitioners and appointed 
Joshua Hersey, Benjamin Lincoln, Jr., Joseph Andrews, Joseph Thaxter and 
Theophilus Cushing a committee to prepare and present a remonstrance to the 
General Court. Nothing definite was accomplished until March 28, 1770, when 
the General Court appointed Jonathan Bradbury, Colonel Gerrish and Major Ban- 
croft as a special committee "to repair to Hingham, as soon as may be, view the 
said Parish and report to the Court what in their opinion is proper to be done." 
The committee was entertained at the house of Lazarus Beal and the expense of 
the investigation (£4. 17s. iod.) was charged to the Town of Hingham. On April 
25, 1770, the committee reported in favor of the petitioners and they were given 
liberty to frame a bill for the establishing of a district. The bill had evidently 
been prepared in advance of the committee's report, for on April 26, 1770, "An 
Act for incorporating the Second Precinct in Hingham into a District by the name 
of Cohasset," became a law. 

Vol. 1—8 



114 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Although called a "district" in the act of incorporation, the law provided "That 
the inhabitants thereof be and hereby are invested with all the powers, privileges 
and immunities which the inhabitants of Towns within this Province do, or by law 
ought to enjoy (that of sending a Representative to the General Assembly only 
excepted) and that the inhabitants of said District shall have liberty, from time 
to time, to join with the Town of Hingham in the choice of a Representative or 
Representatives." 

Not only were the inhabitants invested with the powers, privileges and im- 
munities of a town, but they were also required to perform all the duties required 
of towns. Benjamin Lincoln was named in the act as "empowered to issue a war- 
rant to some principal inhabitant of said District of Cohasset, requiring him to 
call a meeting of said inhabitants, in order to choose such officers as towns are by 
law empowered to choose," etc. 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

Benjamin Lincoln issued a call for a meeting to be held on May 7, 1770, "at 
Cohasset meeting house on the Common." Isaac Lincoln was chosen moderator 
and the following town officers were elected : Joseph Souther, Daniel Lincoln 
and Isaac Lincoln, selectmen, assessors and overseers of the poor; Daniel Lincoln, 
clerk; Thomas Bourne, treasurer; James Litchfield, Ephraim Lincoln and Abel 
Kent, school committee. The act of April 26th, incorporating the district, was 
accepted and it was "Voted to ask that the style of 'district' be changed to 
'town.' ' : This was not done, however, until 1786, when the General Court passed 
an act that all districts incorporated prior to 1777 should be, to all intents and 
purposes, towns. 

TOWN HALL 

The town meetings were held in the First Parish Church until 1832. In 1797 
a company of persons erected a building for a private school. In 1832 the town 
authorities obtained the use of this building, where meetings were held until the 
erection of the present town hall in 1857. It is a substantial frame building, two 
stories in height, and when first built the lower floor was used for some years for 
the high school. The original cost of the hall was about four thousand dollars, 
but an addition was made to it some years later, a heating plant and plumbing 
fixtures installed, giving the town ample accommodations for the transaction of 
public business. The building contains offices for the town clerk, assessors, select- 
men, etc., and a large hall for holding public meetings. It is well preserved and the 
common in front of the Cohasset Town Hall is one of the prettiest spots in 
Norfolk County. 

COHASSET WATER COMPANY 

Prior to 1887 the Town of Cohasset depended upon wells for its water supply. 
On April 26, 1886, fourteen men met and organized the Cohasset Water Company, 
which was incorporated a few days later. Several plans were considered for ob- 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 115 

taining water for the people of the town, but the one finally selected was that of 
driving a number of deep wells in the meadow called "The Picle," pumping the 
water to a reservoir on the top of Bear Hill, from which it could be forced by 
gravity pressure to all parts of the town. The capital stock of the company was 
fixed at $100,000 and as soon as a sufficient amount had been paid in work on 
the plant was commenced. The reservoir on Bear Hill, with a capacity of 
1,500,000. was constructed and connected by pipes with fifty-four wells in "The 
Picle." Mains were laid on the principal streets and the first water was supplied 
in the early autumn of 1887. Within recent years there have been some com- 
plaints about the quality of the water and the rates charged by the company, and 
there have been numerous expressions in favor of the purchase of the plant by the 
town, but nothing definite had been done up to July 1, 1917. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

The Cohasset Fire Department dates back to April 30, 1807, when the fol- 
lowing petition was presented to the board of selectmen : 
"To the Selectmen of the Town of Cohassett : 

"Gentlemen — You are requested to insert the following article in the warrant 
for the May meeting, viz : 

"To see if the Town will Accept of a Fire Engine with Bucketts &c Compleat 
According to Law, to be procured and paid for by Mr. Elisha Doane, Jr., Mr. 
Nichols Tower, Mr. John Nichols, Mr. Joseph Lincoln, Mr. Wm. Whittington and 
such others as may Joyn them to the number the Law allowes and to be Com- 
pleated aggreeable to Law in the course of Nine Months — with the proviso, that 
if the Selectmen should at any time hereafter appoint Engine men to the exclusion 
of the present applicants, or any of their Associates or Assigns, then the Town 
shall reimburse to those who they may exclude all expences they may have been 
at." 

The petition w 7 as signed by Laban Bates, Elisha Doane, Abel Kent, Jr., Thad- 
deus Lawrence, Israel Nichols, James Stoddard, William Stutson and Joel Will- 
cutt. At the May meeting the proposition was accepted and a few months later 
the engine was placed in commission. It was soon discovered that the engine 
was not a paying investment, on account of a scarcity of water, the only source 
of supply being the wells and some small ponds, and several years passed before 
the department was placed upon an efficient basis. 

In 1905 a fire alarm system was installed and at the annual town meeting on 
March 6, 1916, it was "Voted that the sum of $4,820 be raised and appropriated, 
and that $1,000 of this amount be expended under the Board of Engineers for 
the purpose of repairs to the fire house at the cove, said repairs to consist of in- 
stalling a new heating plant and such other repairs as in their judgment are most 
necessary." The board of engineers at that time was composed of Henry E. 
Brennock, chief; George Jason, assistant chief; George F. Sargent and Sidney 
L. Beal, district chiefs. In their report at the close of the year they announced 
that the repairs had been made. The department then consisted of two combina- 
tion engine and hook and ladder companies — one at Cohasset and one at Beech- 
wood — and a hose company at North Cohasset. 



116 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

ELECTRIC LIGHT 

On July 28, 1890, a company was formed for the purpose of lighting the towns 
of Cohasset and Scituate by electricity. It was incorporated on the 12th of 
August the same year under the name of the "Electric Light and Power Com- 
pany of Abington and Rockland." Work on construction was pushed forward 
with commendable energy and on September 14, 1890, the streets of Cohasset were 
lighted for the first time by electricity. The Hingham Municipal Electric Plant 
also furnishes a number of lights, especially in the vicinity of North Cohasset. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

One of the early settlers in Cohasset was Mordecai Lincoln, the ancestor of 
Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States. Mordecai Lin- 
coln received a grant of land on Bound Brook and built a mill on that stream. 
Prior to that time the nearest mill was at Straits Pond, but it could run only when 
the tide was out of the Weir River. The volume of water in Bound Brook was 
not sufficient to run a mill constantly, but Mr. Lincoln's ingenuity was able to 
overcome this difficulty. He built three mills — one at Turtle Island, one at Beech- 
wood and the third at Bound Rock. On Monday and Tuesday there was a suf- 
ficient head of water to run the mill at Turtle Island ; Wednesday and Thursday 
he could operate the mill at Beechwood ; and on Friday and Saturday the one at 
Bound Rock was kept busy. There is an old song entitled "The mill will never 
grind with the water that has passed," but the composer was evidently not ac- 
quainted with the method employed by Mordecai Lincoln, who used the same 
water three times. Mr. Lincoln also operated an iron smelter and forge, hauling 
his bog iron ore from Pembroke, a distance of ten miles, with ox teams. 

During the first half of the Nineteenth Century shipbuilding was carried on 
at Cohasset and between the years 1820 and 1845 it was an important industry. 
Among the vessels that went out from the Cohasset yards were the brigs Eolus 
and Talisman, the Barque Hobart, the schooners Ansurla, Tower, Albicore, Myra, 
Convert, Talisman, William Bates, Bela Bates and Fleetwind. A number of the 
schooners were employed in the fishing industry, which is still a prominent feature 
of Cohasset's business enterprises. 

The location of Cohasset makes it a desirable place for summer residence and 
many wealthy citizens of Boston own cottages along the coast, where they spend 
a large part of their time during the hot weather of July and August. The Boston 
& Plymouth division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway system 
passes through the town, with frequent trains, which enables these summer resi- 
dents to make the short journey to the city whenever it becomes necessary. In 
1910 the population of Cohasset was 2,585, and in 1915 it was 2,800. The assessed 
valuation of property in 19 16 was $9,802,964. 

At the beginning of the year 1917 the town officers were: Selectmen, Assess- 
ors and Overseers of the Poor, Harry E. Mapes, William O. Souther, Jr., Herbert 
L. I'.rowe; Clerk, Harry F. Tilden; Treasurer and Collector, Newcomb B. Tower; 
Highway Surveyor, George Jason; Constables, Sidney L. Beal, Henry E. Bren- 
nock, John T. Keating, Louis J. Morris and Edward E. Wentworth. 



CHAPTER XV 
THE TOWN OF DEDHAM 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION — SETTLEMENT AND GRANT — THE COVENANT — THE TOWN 

INCORPORATED — NAMING THE TOWN ORIGINAL TERRITORY — A FEW PIONEERS 

FIRST TOWN OFFICERS — DEDHAM IN 1664 — TRAINING GROUND — EARLY MILLS 

DEDHAM ISLAND PETUMTUCK OLD-TIME TAVERNS — FIRE DEPARTMENT — 

DEDHAM WATER COMPANY — MEMORIAL HALL — THE TOWN SEAL POSTOFFICE — 

THE DEDHAM OF THE PRESENT. 

Dedham, the shire town of Norfolk County, is situated a little north of the 
center of the county. It is somewhat irregular in shape ; is bounded on the north 
by the Town of Needham ; on the east by the City of Boston; on the southeast 
by the Town of Canton, and on the south and west by the Town of Westwood. 
It is separated from Needham by the Charles River, and the Neponset River flows 
between Dedham and Canton. The town is well watered by these two streams 
and their smaller tributaries. The surface is generally rolling or hilly, and the 
soil is of a sandy or gravelly nature, not naturally fertile, but by careful cultivation 
it can be made to produce fair crops of the grains, fruits and vegetables adapted 
to this section of the country. 

SETTLEMENT AND GRANT 

In May, 1635, the General Court gave permission to the people of Watertown 
"to remove whither they pleased, provided they continued under the jurisdiction of 
the court." Some of the inhabitants of those towns selected a location on the 
Charles River, and on September 3, 1635, the General Court ordered that : "There 
shall be a plantation settled about two miles above the falls of the Charles River, 
on the northeast side thereof, to have ground lying to it on both sides of the river, 
both upland and meadow, to be laid out hereafter as the court shall appoint." 

The first settlement was made upon the new plantation in the fall of 1635 by 
people from Watertown and Roxbury. In March, 1636, the General Court 
appointed commissioners to set out the bounds of the plantation. The commis- 
sioners made their report on April 13, 1636. At that time it was a custom in New 
England for the settlers in anew community, before they were incorporated as a 
town, to form themselves into a sort of voluntary association and enter into an 
agreement to observe certain regulations until such time as the General Court 
should see fit to pass an act of incorporation. Pursuant to this custom, the settlers 
of the new plantation on the Charles River, soon after the bounds had been fixed 
by the commissioners, adopted the following 

117 



118 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

COVENANT 

"i. We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do, in the fear and 
reverence of Almighty God, mutually and severally promise amongst ourselves 
and each to other to profess and practice one truth according to that most perfect 
rule the foundation whereof is everlasting love. 

"2. That we shall by all means labor to keep off from us all such as are con- 
trary-minded,, and receive only such unto us as be such as may be probably of one 
heart with us, as that we either know or may well and truly be informed to walk 
in peaceable conversation, with all meekness of spirit, for the edification of each 
other, in the knowledge and faith of the Lord Jesus, and the mutual encouragement 
unto all temporal comforts in all things, seeking the good of each other out of all 
which may be derived true peace. 

"3. That if at any time difference shall arise between parties of our said 
town, that then such party and parties shall presently refer all such difference unto 
some two or three others of our said society, to be fully accorded and determined 
without further delay, if it possibly may be. 

"4. That every man that now or at any time hereafter shall have lots in our 
said town shall pay his share in all such rates of money and charges as shall be 
imposed upon him rateably in proportion with other men, as also become freely 
subject unto all such orders and constitutions as shall be necessarily had or made, 
now or at any time hereafter, from this day forward, as well for the loving and 
comfortable society in our said town as also for the prosperous and thriving 
condition of our said fellowship, especially respecting the fear of God, in which 
we desire to begin and continue whatsoever we shall by His loving favor take 
in hand. 

"5. And for the better manifestation of our true resolution herein, every man 
so received to subscribe hereunto his .name, thereby obliging both himself and his 
successors after him forever, as we have done." 

This covenant was signed by one hundred and twenty-five persons, to wit : 
Ferdinando Adams, Thomas Alcock, John Aldis, Nathan Aldis, Edward Alleyne, 
James Allin, John Allin, Francis Austin, William Avery, Michael Bacon, George 
Barber, Richard Barber, Thomas Bartlett, John Batchelor, Thomas Bayes, George 
Bearstowe. William Bearstowe, Henry Brock, Benjamin Bullard, Isaac Bullard, 
John Bullard, William Bullard, Samuel Bulleyne, Thomas Cakebread, Thomas 
Carter, Francis Chickering, Joseph Clarke, Nathaniel Coaleborne (Colburn), 
Edward Colver, John Coolidge, Robert Crossman, Philemon Dalton, Timothy 
Dalton, Andrew Deming, Henry Dengayne, James Draper, John Dwight, Timothy 
Dwight, Timothy Dwight, Jr., Thomas Eames, John Eaton, John Elderkin, John 
Ellice, Joseph Ellice, Richard Ellice, Richard Evered (Everard), George Fayer- 
banke, John Fayerbanke, Jonathan Fayerbanke, Jonathan Fayerbanke, Jr., Robert 
Feake, Anthony Fisher, Cornelius Fisher, John Fisher, Joshua Fisher, Samuel 
Fisher, Thomas Fisher, Thomas Fisher, Jr., John Frayrye, Ralph Freeman, 
Thomas Fuller, John Gaye, Lambert Genere, Henry Glover, Robert Gowen, John 
Guild, Thomas Hastings, James Herring, Thomas Herring, Robert Hinsdale, 
Fzekiel Holliman, John Houghton, John Haward (Howard), John Huggin, Jonas 
Humphrey, John Hunting, James Jordan, Thomas Jordan, Edward Kempe, Austen 
Kilham, John Kingsbury, Joseph Kingsbury, Thomas Leader, Eleazer Lusher, 




THE SQUARE. LOOKING EAST, DKDHAM 




FRANKLIN SQUARE, DKDHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 119 

John Luson, John Mason, Michael Metcalfe, Thomas Metcalfe, Samuel Mills, 
Jeffrey Mingeye, Daniel Morse, John Morse, Joseph Morse, Samuel Morse, Joseph 
Moyes, Robert Onion, John Partridge, Thomas Payne, Henry Phillips, Martin 
Phillips, Nicholas Phillips, John Plympton, Daniel Pond, Michael Powell, John 
Rice, Edward Richards, John Rogers, John Roper, Abraham Shaw, Joseph Shaw, 
Ralph Shepherd, Benjamin Smith, Christopher Smith, Henry Smyth, Hugh 
Stacey, Th waits Strickland, James Thorpe, John Thurston, James Vales (Fales), 
Robert Ware, Ralph Wheelock, Nathaniel Whiting, Thomas Wight, Ellice Wood 
and Peter Woodward. 

The covenant bears no date to show just when it was adopted, and a few of 
the names attached to it were those of mere children, notably Timothy Dwight, 
Jr.. Isaac Bullard, Jonathan Fayerbanke, Jr., and John Houghton, some of whom 
were not more than five years of age at the time the covenant was first written. 

THE TOWN INCORPORATED 

The oldest record of a town meeting in the settlement on the Charles River 
bears date of August 18, 1636. Another meeting held on the 5th of September 
was attended by nineteen persons, who adopted the following petition for presen- 
tation to the General Court, which was then in session : 

"1. May it please this honored court to ratify unto your humble petitioners 
your grant formerly made of a plantation above the falls that we may possess all 
that land which is left out of all former grants upon that side of the Charles River. 
And upon the other side five miles square. To have and enjoy all those lands, 
meadows, woods and other grounds, together with all waters and other benefits 
whatsoever now being or that may be within the compass of the aforesaid limits 
to us with our associates and our assigns forever. 

"2. To be freed from all country charges for four years. And military exer- 
cises to be only in our own town, except extraordinary occasion require it. 

"3. That such distribution or allotments of lands, meadows, woods, &c, 
within our said limits as are done and performed by the grantees, their successors, 
or such as shall be deputed thereunto, shall and may stand for good assurance 
unto the several possessors thereof and their assigns forever. 

"4. That we may have countenance from this honored court for the well 
ordering of the nonage of our society according to the best rule. And to that 
purpose to assign unto us a constable that may regard peace and truth. 

"5. To distinguish our town by the name of Contentment, or otherwise what 
you shall please. 

"6. And lastly we entreat such other helps as your wisdoms shall know best 
in favor to grant unto us for our well improving of what we are thus entrusted 
withal unto our particular, but especially unto the general good of this whole weal 
public in succeeding times. 

"Subscribed by all that have underwritten in covenant at present." 

The nineteen men who signed this petition at the meeting at which it was 
unanimously adopted were : Edward Alleyne, Francis Austin, Thomas Bartlett, 
William Bearstowe, John Coolidge, Philemon Dalton, John Dwight, Richard 
Evered, John Gaye, Lambert Genere, Ezekiel Holliman, John Howard, John 



120 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Kingsbury, Samuel Morse, Nicholas Phillips, John Rogers, Abraham Shaw, 
Joseph Shaw and Ralph Shepherd. Some historians state that the petition was 
signed by nineteen inhabitants of the plantation, but as a matter of fact it was 
signed by twenty-two. The minutes of the meeting of September 5, 1636, state 
that "After ye assembly was dissolved Mr. Robte Feke came and subscribed his 
name unto ye said peticion. And Thomas Hastings and John Huggin did the like 
at Boston." 

It appears that the petitioners lost no time in bringing the matter before the 
General Court, for on September 8, 1636, that body ordered that: "The planta- 
tion to be settled above Charles River shall have three years immunity from public 
charges, as Concord had, to be accounted from the first of May next ; that the name 
of the town shall be Dedham ; to enjoy all that land on the easterly and southerly 
side of the Charles River, not formerly granted unto any town or particular per- 
son ; and also to have five miles square on the other side of the said river.'' It is 
from the date of this order that Dedham dates its incorporation as a town. 

NAMING THE TOWN 

Worthington's History of Dedham, published in 1827, says on page 31 : "The 
celebrated John Rogers, of Dedham, in England, had been forbidden to preach 
before our first settlers came to this country. Many of his people emigrated to 
this country and several to this town. John Dwight and his son Timothy Dwight, 
John Rogers and John Page were of this number. From this circumstance we may 
suppose the General Court gave to this place the name of Dedham. The inhabi- 
tants requested the General Court to give it the name of Contentment, which name 
is written over the records of the first several meetings. It appears to me that 
the word well expresses the leading motives of the first twenty-four settlers in 
coming into this town." 

ORIGINAL TERRITORY 

The grant made to the Town of Dedham by the act of September 8, 1636, was 
princely in its proportions, though rather indefinite as to boundaries. South and 
east of the Charles River it embraced the present towns of Dedham, Dover, Fox- 
borough, Franklin, Medfield, Norfolk, Norwood, Plainville, Walpole, Westwood, 
Wrentham, and nearly all of Bellingham. On the north and west of the river it 
included Needham, Medway, Millis, Wellesley, that portion of Bellingham on that 
side of the river, and parts of Natick and Sherborn. On the east the town extended 
to the grant of land to Israel Stoughton and others, and it was not until nearly a 
century afterward that the Neponset River was made the boundary between 
Stoughton (now Canton) and Dedham. The boundary line between Dedham and 
the towns of Dorchester and Roxbury was not definitely established for several 
years. Dedham might be appropriately called the "Mother of Towns," as more 
than half the towns in Norfolk County were included within the limits of its 
original boundaries, as well as a large part of the towns of Natick and Sherborn, 
in the County of Middlesex, and portions of Hyde Park and West Roxbury, which 
have since been annexed to the City of Boston. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 121 

A FEW PIONEERS 

It is impossible, after a lapse of nearly three hundred years and in the absence 
of authentic records, to give the names of all the members of the first company 
that came to Dedham in 1635. The list of the signers of the covenant given above 
was compiled by Erastus Worthington in 1884. From this list and the annotations 
made by Mr. Worthington it can be determined with tolerable certainty that 
among those who came in each of the first three years of Dedham's history were 
the following: 

1635 — Edward Alleyn, Philemon Dalton, John Dwight, John Ellis (or Ellice, 
as it appears among the signers of the covenant), John Gay, John Howard, Samuel 
Morse and Ralph Shepherd. 

1636 — Thomas Alcock, William Bearstowe, Richard Evered, Lambert Genere, 
Ezekiel Holliman, John Kingsbury, Nicholas Phillips, John Rogers and Abraham 
Shaw. 

1637 — John Allin, Francis Chickering, Thomas Fisher, Eleazer Lusher, John 
Luson, Michael Metcalf, John Thurston, Thomas Wight and probably Hugh 
Stacey. 

Concerning the character of these pioneers, especially those who came first,. 
Worthington says : "This company of men seems from their subsequent conduct, 
to have been a portion of that mixed population collected at Watertown, who 
possessed good sense and moderate principles and were desirous of forming a 
peaceable society. They were Puritans, but by no means of high proof. This 
company did in substance at least say to their fellow townsmen, whom they were 
about to leave: 'Let there be no strife between us and -thee, and between thy 
herdsmen and our herdsmen, for we be brethren ; if you go to the right we will go 
to the left, for is not the whole country before us?' " 

Edward Alleyn was unquestionably the leading man of the company. There is 
a tradition that he wrote the covenant, and that he was active in bringing the peti- 
tion of September, 1636, before the General Court is well known. When the town 
was incorporated in response to that petition, he was chosen a member of the first 
board of selectmen and the first records of the town are in his handwriting. Upon 
the establishment of the first church in 1638, he experienced some difficulty in 
being admitted, owing to objections caused by rumors regarding his conduct in 
England. The objections were removed, however, as soon as Mr. Alleyn could 
procure evidence from the mother country. In 1639 he was elected a representa- 
tive to the General Court and continued a member of that body until his death, 
which occurred suddenly on September 8, 1642. 

Philemon Dalton was linen weaver by trade. He came over in the 
"Increase" in 1635 ar, d located at Watertown. One account says he did not 
become a resident of Dedham until 1637, but as he was one of the first to sign 
the covenant and also the petition of 1636, it is certain that he was a member of 
the original company. About 1640 he went to Ipswich, where he died on June 4, 
1662. 

John Dwight first located at Watertown upon coming to America, but remained 
there only a short time before coming to Dedham. For sixteen years he served 
on the board of selectmen and it was from him that Dwight's Brook was named. 
His house stood near the brook, on High Street, and was removed in 1849 to make 



122 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

way for the railroad bridge. He died on the last day of June, 1674. When he 
first came to Dedham he was accompanied by his family. One son, Timothy 
Dwight, was then about five years of age. He grew up in Dedham, was town 
clerk for ten years and selectman for twenty-four years. In 1678 and again in 
1 69 1 he was elected representative to the General Court. His death occurred on 
January 31, 1718. 

Samuel Morse and his two sons — John and Daniel — were among those who 
came over in the "Increase" in 1635. He was one of the original proprietors of 
the plantation on the Charles River that afterward became the Town of Dedham. 
In 1 64 1 he was elected a selectman and served for two years. He died on June 
20, 1654. 

Ralph Shepherd came in the "Abigail" in 1635 and located at Dedham in the 
same year. After a short residence he removed to Weymouth and from there to 
Maiden. He then bought a farm at Concord and lived there for a few years, 
when he went to Charlestown. He died there on September 11, 1693. 

William Bearstowe (correct family name "Barstow") was one of the passen- 
gers on the "Truelove" in 1635 and soon after landing he became interested in the 
Dedham movement. He was one of the signers of the petition for the incorpora- 
tion of the town and afterward removed to Scituate. His brother George, who 
came over on the same vessel, in 1636 received an allotment of land in Ded- 
ham, but did not become a resident until several years later. He was a member 
of the Dedham artillery company for a time and then removed to Scituate. 

Richard Evered was the founder of the American family bearing the name 
of Everett, of which Gov. Edward Everett was a distinguished member. He was 
elected one of the selectmen in 1661 and held the office for one year. His death 
occurred on July 3, 1682. 

Ezekiel Holliman is mentioned in some of the early records as "a man of gifts 
and piety," though it seems he did not always conform to established customs. On 
March 12, 1638, he was "summoned" because "he did not frequent the public 
assemblies," and his case was referred by the court to the ministers for conviction. 
Previous to that time he had been fined for felling "one greate Timber tree for 
clapboards without his own lott," and also for covering his house with clapboards 
"contrary unto an order made in that behalfe." The following month the fines 
were remitted "in consideration of some moneyes disbursed by him for ye benefit 
of our Towne." About 1639 he removed to Salem and from there went to Rhode 
Island, where he became one of the founders of the first Baptist Church in 
America. 

John Kingsbury came to Dedham from Watertown in 1636 and was one of the 
signers of the petition for the incorporation of the town. In 1639 he was elected 
one of the selectmen and served on the board for twelve years, and in 1647 he was 
elected representative to the General Court. He died in 1658. 

Nicholas Phillips came to Dedham from Watertown and was one of the twenty- 
two men who signed the petition for incorporation. In August, 1639, he sold his 
property in Dedham to Rev. John Allin and removed to Weymouth. He died in 
September, 1672. His brother, Henry, who came about the same time, was a 
member of the artillery company in 1640, served as selectman in 1645, was an 
ensign in the militia company in 1648, and soon after that removed to Boston. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 123 

Abraham Shaw first settled at Watertown when he came to America. His 
house there was destroyed by fire soon after it was completed and he came to 
Dedham. The town granted him the privilege of erecting a water mill on the 
Charles River and gave him a tract of land for that purpose, but he died in 1638 
before the work was commenced. 

John Allin, who is further mentioned in the chapters on Church History, 
was born in England in 1596. Cotton Mather says he had been engaged in the 
ministry before coming to America, and because of his refusal to conform to all 
the ceremonies and requirements of the Church of England transplanted himself 
to New England. He was one of the founders of the first church in Dedham, of 
which he was installed pastor on April 24, 1639, a position he held until his death 
on August 26, 1 67 1. 

Francis Chickering came from Suffolk, England, in 1637 and located in Ded- 
ham soon after landing in America. In 1641 he was elected one of the selectmen 
of the town and continued in that office for fifteen years. He became a member 
of the artillery company in 1643. In 1644 an d again in 1653 he was elected repre- 
sentative to the General Court. His death occurred on October 2, 1658. 

Eleazer Lusher, another pioneer of 1637, was for many years one of the most 
prominent men in Dedham. Worthington says : "He was the leading man in all 
his lifetime and directed all the important affairs of the town." For twenty-three 
years he held the office of town clerk, and to his careful and painstaking mariner 
of keeping the records the people of the present generation are indebted for a 
knowledge of early events. He was a member of the board of selectmen for 
twenty-nine years and he was also for many years a deputy to the General Court. 
Through his activity in organizing the Dedham Artillery Company he acquired 
the title of ''major," and in many other ways he was influential in promoting the 
interests of the town. In 1670 he was appointed commissioner of the Massachu- 
setts Bay Colony to revise and codify the laws, and in 1672 he was appointed to 
examine and classify historical papers. He died at Dedham on November 13, 1672. 

Michael Metcalf, whose name appears as one of the selectmen in 1641, was 
born at Tatterford, Norfolk, England, in 1586. On July 14, 1637, he landed in 
Dedham. Two years later, soon after the First Church was organized, he was 
appointed one of the committee "to contrive the fabrick of a meeting house." He 
died on December 27, 1644. An old chest and a chair, both handsomely carved, 
that he brought with him from England are now among the collections of the Ded- 
ham Historical Society. His youngest son, Thomas Metcalf, afterward became 
a deacon in the church, and represented Dedham in the General Court in 1694 
and again in 1697. 

FIRST TOWN OFFICERS 

Although Dedham was incorporated as a town on September 8, 1636, no town 
officers were elected until May 17, 1639. At that time a board of selectmen com- 
posed of seven members was elected, to wit: Edward Allen (or Alleyn), John 
Bachelor, John Dwight, Robert Hinsdale, John Kingsbury, Eleazer Lusher and 
John Luson. Edward Allen was also chosen town clerk, which office he held until 
1 64 1, when he was succeeded by Eleazer Lusher. 



124 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

DEDHAM IN 1 664 

Erastus Worthington, writing in 1827, gives the following description of the 
village of Dedham, as it appeared twenty-nine years after the first settlement was 
established: 

"In 1664 ninety-five small houses near each other were situated within a short 
distance of the place where the new court-house now stands ; the greater part of 
them east of that place and around Dwight's Brook. A row of houses stood on 
the north side of High Street, as that road was then called, which extends from 
the bridge over Dwight's Brook westwardly toward the court-house. The total 
amount of the value of these houses was 691 pounds. Four only of the houses 
were valued at 20 pounds. The greater number were valued from three to ten 
pounds. The greatest number of these houses were built soon after the first 
settlement was commenced. There were then very few carpenters, joiners or 
masons in the colony. There was no saw mill in the settlement for many years. 
The only boards which could be procured at first were those which were sawed by 
hand. The saw pits, now seen, denote that boards were sawed in the woods. The 
necessary materials, bricks, glass and nails, were scarcely to be obtained. These 
houses therefore must have been principally constructed by farmers, not by 
mechanics, and have been very rude and inconvenient. They were probably log 
houses. Their roofs were covered with thatch. By an ordinance of the town, a 
ladder was ordered to extend from the ground to the chimney, as a substitute for 
a more perfect fire engine. Around these houses nothing was to be seen but 
stumps, clumsy fences of poles, and an uneven and unsubdued soil, such as all first 
settlements in New England present. The native forest trees were not suitable 
shades for a door yard. A shady tree was not then such an agreeable object as it 
now is, because it could form no agreeable contrast with cleared grounds. 

"Where the meeting house of the first parish now stands, there stood for more 
than thirty years a low building, thirty-six feet long and twenty wide, twelve feet 
high, with a thatched roof and a large ladder resting on it. This was the first 
meeting house. Near by was the school house, standing on an area of eighteen 
feet by fourteen, and rising to a height of three stories. The third story, how- 
ever, was a watch house of small dimensions. The watch house was beside the 
ample stone chimney. The spectator elevated on the little box called the watch 
house, might view this plain, on which a part of the present village stands, then a 
common plough field, containing about two hundred acres of cleared' land, par- 
tially subdued, yet full of stumps and roots. Around him at a farther distance 
were the 'herd walks,' as the common feeding lands were called in the language 
of that time. One of these herd walks was on Dedham Island north of the Charles 
River, and one was at East Street and more fully in view. The other herd walk 
was on South Plain. The herd walks were at first no better cultivated than cut- 
ting down the trees and carrying away the wood and timber, and afterwards, when 
it was practicable in the spring of the year, burning them over under the direction 
of town officers called 'wood reeves.' Land thus treated would in the spring 
appear barren, for nothing would be seen but black stumps, the burnt soil and the 
rocks. It would scarcely appear better when the wild grass and cropped shrubs 
next succeeded. The meadows were not yet cleared to any great extent. Beyond 
these herd walks was a continued wilderness, which was becoming more disagree- 




METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, DEDHAM 




NEW HIGH SCHOOL, DEDHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 125 



able to the inhabitants, for the cattle, goats and swine seem to have allured the 
wolves to their neighborhood. The dense swamps about Wigwam Swamp were 
not yet cleared. The numerous dogs in the plantation, which were so troublesome 
to the worshipping assembly, were not a sufficient guard against wolves. The 
inhabitants for many years after this period encouraged their hunters by addi- 
tional bounties to destroy these troublesome enemies." 

This description has been reproduced here at some length, because it gives a 
fair idea of the conditions that prevailed at the time, and of the collection of 
houses that then formed the village. By comparing it with the Dedham of 1917 
the reader can note the progress of two and a half centuries. 

TRAINING GROUND 

In 1644 the town proprietors set apart the triangular piece of ground at the 
junction of what are now High and Common streets for the use of the military 
company. This action was confirmed some four years later, as shown by the fol- 
lowing extract from the town records : 

"7th Mo. 10, 1648. Granted to ye trayned company of this Town and to ye 
officers thereof and to their successors for ever the Free use of all that parcell 
of land comonly called the Trayning Ground always provided that the said Trayned 
Company & the officers thereof shall not at any time hereafter appropriate the 
said parcell of Land or any part thereof or improve the same to any other use 
than to the Publick exercise of ye said Company without the consent of ye Select- 
men of ye Town for the time beeing first attayned. Neither shall it be in the 
Libertie or Power of the Selectmen hereafter at any time to dispose of ye said 
parcell of Land or any part thereof in any case without the consent of ye said 
Trayned Company & the officers thereof first had and Manifest." 

By the common consent of the selectmen and the officers of the military com- 
pany, one acre of the ground was granted to Amos Fisher in 1677, and at the 
same time Daniel Pond was given permission to cultivate one and a half acres, for 
which he was to pay "thirty shillings in merchantable corn." Other persons were 
likewise given permission to cultivate certain portions of the field from time to 
time, enough always being reserved for the use of the company as a drill ground. 

In February, 1687, the voters of the town being assembled in town meeting, 
and the town being in need of funds, it was voted : "That if any appear to pur- 
chase the Trayning Ground & will give betwixt 30 and 40 pounds in money or not 
much less it may be sold if the trayned company the military officers and the 
Selectmen approve thereof." No buyer presented himself and the field still 
remained in the possession of the town and the military company. About 1773 
an alms house was built on the western side of the ground and remained there until 
1836. when the building, "together with the land and appurtenances thereto belong- 
ing," was sold by order of the town. Later a street was opened through the 
ground to connect with Bridge Street, and in 1842 the citizens planted the shade 
trees along the borders of the field. 

EARLY MILLS 

Realizing the importance of having some improved way of grinding their 
grain, one of the first acts of the Town of Dedham after its incorporation in 1636 



126 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

was to grant to Abraham Shaw and his associates the privilege of building a mill 
on the Charles River. Shaw built a dam, which Mann says was located "about 
three-fourths of a mile southwest from the new bridge," but he died in 1638 
before the mill was completed. The place where this dam was constructed is 
frequently referred to in the early town records as the "Old Mill," and it is pos- 
sible that a mill of some kind was established there by some one after Mr. Shaw's 
death. 

On March 28, 1639, it was ordered by a town meeting "That a ditch shalbe 
dug at common charge through Upper Charles meaddow unto East Brook that it 
may both be a partition Fense in the same and alsoe may form a suitable course 
unto a Watermill that is if it shalbe found fitting to sett a mill upon in the opinion 
of a workman to be employed for that purpose." 

The ditch thus excavated became known as Mother Brook. At the same meet- 
ing at which it was ordered the town granted liberty to any one who would under- 
take it, to build a mill upon the stream and also to give him a lot of land adjoining 
the mill. It is not certain who was the first to avail himself of the privilege, but 
the records show that in 1641 "a foot path is laid out to the mill," indicating that 
a mill had previously been built and was then in operation. Not long after the 
foot path was laid out John Dwight and Rev. John Allin conveyed the mill to 
Nathaniel Whiting. He and his heirs continued in possession of the mill privilege 
until about the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, when it was sold to Ben- 
jamin Bussey. 

In 1664 Ezra Morse and Daniel Pond asked the town for permission to erect 
a corn mill on Mother Brook, a short distance above the one owned by Mr. Whit- 
ing. Permission was granted and the mill erected, when it was discovered that it 
interfered with the rights of Whiting and a dispute arose, which finally resulted in 
the abatement of the new dam. This was the beginning of litigation over mill 
privileges and rights that went on for more than a century and a half, the last 
lawsuit of which there is any record having been settled early in the Nineteenth 
Century. Mann, in his "Annals of Dedham," says that soon after 1639, "Nathaniel 
Whiting and Ezra Morse became possessed of the principal mill seats in the town, 
and they have been held by their descendants to this day." That was written 
in 1847. 

Joshua Fisher built a saw mill on the Neponset River in 1664, the town grant- 
ing him liberal inducements to undertake the enterprise. It was on the southern 
border of the town and as part of the franchise agreement, Mr. Fisher agreed to 
saw timber for the citizens at a stipulated price. When Ezra Morse was driven 
from Mother Brook, he was granted a mill site on the Neponset, not far from 
Fisher's saw mill. This is no doubt the mill seat held by his descendants in 1847, 
as referred to by Mann. Draper & Fairbanks built a fulling mill on the Neponset 
in 1681. In 1700 the corn mill on Mother Brook, then owned by Timothy Whiting, 
was destroyed by fire and the town agreed to loan him twenty-five pounds, with- 
out interest, to rebuild it. 

DEDHAM ISLAND 

Northwest of the village of Dedham the Charles River flows around a neck 
of land, which in early days overflowed easily, owing to the slight fall of the river 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 127 

at this point. Around the "horseshoe bend" of the river is a distance of almost 
five miles, while across the "heel'' of the shoe the distance is less than three- 
fourths of a mile. To prevent damage to the meadows by overflows, the enter- 
prising citizens of the town in 1652 conceived the idea of cutting a ditch across 
the neck, through the "Broad Meadows," thus uniting the two channels of the 
river and carrying off part of the water that came around the bend. Thomas 
Fuller and "Lieutenant" Fisher were employed to make a survey for the ditch, 
the construction of which converted the land inclosed in the bend into an island, 
since known as "Dedham Island." One of the first brick yards was established 
on the lot of Alichael Metcalf on this island, and along the narrow strip of land 
at the westerly end of the island ran the "Long Causeway," upon which a road 
was located in 1644, leading to the Great Plain, in what is now the Town of 
Needham. 

PETUMTUCK 

In 1651 the General Court granted 2,000 acres for a new Indian town in Natick, 
in which were to be collected those Indians converted to Christianity by Rev. 
John Eliot and taught the arts of civilization. The land included in this grant was 
taken from Dedham, and the proprietors of the town were given the privilege of 
selecting 8,000 acres of any unlocated lands within the jurisdiction of the Court. 
Messengers were sent out to examine "the chestnut country" (believed to be some- 
where near Lancaster, Worcester County), but they reported unfavorably. John 
Fairbanks and Lieut. Daniel Fisher were then sent to look at a tract on the Deer- 
field River, in what is now Franklin County. They passed through Sudbury, 
Lancaster and Hadley, all then infant settlements, and finally arrived at the 
valley. Upon their return Lieutenant Fisher reported as follows : 

"We at length arrived at the place we sought after. We called it Petumtuck, 
because there dwell the Petumtuck Indians. Having ascended a little hill, ap- 
parently surrounded by rich meadow land, from that spot we beheld broad mead- 
ows extending far north, west and south of us. In these meadows we could trace 
the course of a fine river, which comes out from the mountains on the northwest, 
and running northerly through many miles of meadow, seemed to us to run in 
among the hills again at the northeast. The tall trees of buttonwood and elm 
exposed to us its course. That meadow is not soft and covered with coarse 
water grass like that around us here, but is hard land. It is the best land 
that we have seen in this colony. We dug holes in the meadow, with the intent 
to find the depth of the soil, but could not find the bottom. At the foot of the little 
hill we stood on is a plat of ground sufficiently large to build a village upon, and 
sufficiently high to be out of the reach of the spring floods. Providence led us 
to that place. It is indeed far away from our plantations and the 'Canaanites and 
Amalekites dwell in that valley,' and if they have any attachment to any spot on 
earth, must delight to live there. But that land must be ours. Our people have 
resolute and pious hearts and strong hands to overcome all difficulties. Let us go 
and possess the land, and in a few years you will hear more boast of it in this 
colony as a good land for flocks and herds than could ever be justly said of the 
land of Goshen, or any part of the land of Canaan." 

Fisher's optimism so impressed the people that they immediately appointed 



128 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

a committee of six to repair to the place and cause the 8,000 acres to be located 
there. Capt. John Pynchon of Springfiefild was employed to purchase the lands 
of the Indians. He procured four deeds of relinquishment from the natives, for 
which they received ninety-four pounds and ten shillings. The tract afterward 
became known as the "Pynchon Purchase." In the records the name Petumtuck is 
spelled in various ways, but the one here used is the most common. In 1670 the 
number of proprietors of the new purchase was twenty-six, twenty of whom were 
inhabitants of Dedham. The tract was afterward incorporated as the Town of 
Deerfield. 

OLD-TIME TAVERNS 

The first mention of a public house of entertainment in the town records is 
in the minutes of a town meeting held in 1646, when Michael Powell was licensed 
to keep a taven, the location of which is now uncertain. Powell was at that time 
the town clerk. 

Woodward's Tavern stood on High Street, where the Registry Building now 
stands. The exact date when the house was opened cannot be ascertained. In 
1658 it passed into the hands of Joshua Fisher, who received a license from the 
town authorities to conduct a public house. He was succeeded by his son, who 
conducted the tavern for several years. About 1735 Dr. Nathaniel Ames became 
the landlord. His son, Fisher Ames, was born in this house on April 9, 1758. 
Richard Woodward assumed the management in 1769 or 1770. It was in this 
house that the committee drafted the resolutions in September, 1774, declaring 
in favor of armed resistance to Great Britain if it became necessary, the first 
open declaration of that character made by any of the colonists. The building 
was torn down in 1817. 

Gay's Tavern, which stood on Court Street near Highland, and Howe's Tavern, 
farther north on the same street, were two noted hostelries in their day. The 
former, of which Timothy Gay was owner and proprietor, was a sort of political 
headquarters for years during the early history of Norfolk County. About 1803 
the building was removed to the northwest corner of High and Washington streets, 
where it and several of the adjoining buildings were destroyed by fire on October 
30, 1832. About sixty horses belonging to the Citizens Stage Company perished 
in the fire. The tavern was rebuilt by Mr. Gay, who christened the new building 
the "Phoenix House." It was opened in 1834 with James Bride as the landlord, 
and soon came to be widely known as "Bride's Tavern." At the time it was 
completed it was the finest hotel in Norfolk County and in its appointments rivaled 
some of the leading hotels of Boston. Under different names and different man- 
agers the house continued to do a good business until it was again burned to the 
ground on the morning of December 25, 1880. Among the distinguished guests 
of this hotel were Gen. Andrew Jackson, while President of the United States, 
and President James Monroe. 

In 1801 Martin Marsh leased part of the Ezekiel Holliman tract and built a 
tavern on Court Street, almost opposite the court-house. It was opened in 1804, 
about the time the Norfolk & Bristol turnpike was completed, and soon became 
a popular stopping place for stage passengers. Mr. Marsh was a mason by trade 
and also a member of the Masonic fraternity. Some of the first meetings of Con- 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 129 

stellation Lodge were held in a room in his tavern. In June, 1818, he sold out 
to Moses Gragg and Francis Alden, who renamed the house the "Norfolk Hotel." 
It was opened under the new management with a grand dinner on July 4, 1818. In 
the latter '40s the place lost much of its former reputation through dances, etc., 
that respectable people declined to attend, and the greater part of its patronage" 
was diverted to the Phoenix House. In May, 1849, most of the furniture was sold 
at auction, and the next year a man named Stimson leased the house and started 
a dancing school. On June I, 1866, the building was sold to the trustees of St. 
Mary's School and Asylum. This institution was closed in June, 1879. After 
that the house was occupied by various persons and used for various purposes 
until June, 1905, when it was bought by Charles H. Gifford. A few years later 
Mr. Gifford sold the property to Walter Austin, the present owner. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

During the first three years of Dedham's existence as a town, no attention 
was paid to precautionary measures against fire. But at a town meeting in 1639 
the following action was taken : "For the prevention of damage that might arise 
by fire vpon any house in our Towne it is Ordered that every Housholder in our 
Towne shall forth with pvide & mayntaine one good stronge & Sufficient Lader 
that may be sufficient in all respects for the speedie & safe attayneing to ye toppe 
of ye Chimney of his house vpon occasiones which sayd Laders shall be kept in 
possesion at against or neere the house or Chimney wher fire is vsually made & 
for the greater care heere in as in a case of so greate Concernm 1 it is further 
ordered that who so ever being an housholder in our Towne shall fayle in any the 
pticulers aforesaide for the space of fourteene dayes together shall forfiet vnto 
ye Towne & the vse there of ye sum of Five Shillings," etc. 

Coming down to more modern times, Engine No. 1, called the "Hero," was 
presented to the town in January, 1801, and was named by a company of volun- 
teers composed of Eliphalet Baker, Jr., Jesse Clapp, Elisha Crehore, David Dana, 
Paul Fisher, Amasa Guild, Reuben Guild, Reuben Newell, James Noyes, Eli 
Parsons, Reuben Richards and Calvin Whiting. It was located at what was known 
as the "Upper Village." 

Engine Company No. 2 was organized about this time, and in April 1802, was 
presented with the engine "Good Intent," which was purchased by the inhabitants 
of the town by subscription. It was stationed in the "Centre Village." The first 
Good Intent company was made up of the following : Abner Atherton, John Bill- 
iard, Jr., William Bullard, Francis Child, Josiah Daniels, Abner Ellis, Stephen 
Farrington, George Gay, John Guild, Nathaniel Guild, William Howe, Herman 
Mann, Sr., Thaddeus Mason, Martin Marsh, James Richardson, Edward Russell, 
Jesse Stowell and Seth Sumner. 

In 1826 the "Enterprise" was purchased by subscription and located in the 
Upper Mill Village, but the members of the company that first handled it can 
not be learned. The three engines mentioned constituted the town's fire depart- 
ment until at a special meeting held in December, 1831 the sum of $1,500 was 
voted "for the purchase of fire engines and apparatus for extinguishing fires." 
The appropriation was to be divided among the several school districts, in pro- 
portion to the taxes paid by each, though any two adjoining districts were given 

Vol. 1—9 



130 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

permission to unite their proportion of the funds. The appropriation of this sum 
had the effect of multiplying the number of fire companies and engines in the 
town from three to eleven. Six of the engines were located in the First Parish, 
two in the Second and three in the Third. 

On May 4, 1846, the town voted to raise the sum of $2,500 for the erection of 
engine houses "and for placing the Fire Department in a more efficient state 
for service." David A. Baker, George Ellis and Samuel C. Mann, of the first 
parish, Joseph Day, of the second, and Merrill D. Ellis, of the third, were ap- 
pointed a committee to carry the order into effect. Under the supervision of this 
committee Dedham's first engine houses were erected. 

Since 1846 the department has been developed little by little to keep pace with 
the growth of the town. This work of development has been made easier in some 
respects by the organization of new towns that took away some of Dedham's terri- 
tory, so that the department now does not have to cover so wide a field. The 
first steam fire engine was installed in 1873, ar >d at tne same time tne town ex- 
pended $2,500 in the purchase of new hose. A new engine house was also built 
in that year. According to the report of the board of fire engineers — Henry J. 
Harrigan, John E. Shaughnessy and W. E. Patenaude — for the year 1916, there 
were then in service one engine company, two hook and ladder companies and four 
hose companies, and the cost of maintaining the department for the year was 
$19,274.42. 

DEDHAM WATER COMPANY 

A few years after the close of the Civil War in 1865, the citizens of Dedham 
became interested in the subject of some system of waterworks for the town, 
as a means of extinguishing fires and obtaining a supply of water for domestic 
purposes. Nothing was accomplished, however, until April 11, 1876, when the 
Legislature passed an act incorporating the Dedham Water Company. The in- 
corporators named in the act were : Edward S. Rand, Jr., Waldo Colburn, Wins- 
low Warren, E. Worthington, Royal O. Storrs, William Bullard, Ira Cleveland, 
Edward Stimson, Thomas Sherwin, J. P. Maynard, Thomas L. Wakefield, L. H. 
Kingsbury, F. D. Ely, John R. Bullard and Charles C. Loring. The act authorized 
the above named stockholders, "their associates and successors," to take water 
from the "Charles River, Buckmaster Pond, or any other natural pond or ponds, 
spring or springs, brook or brooks within the Town of Dedham." 

It was also provided in the act of incorporation that the capital stock should 
not exceed $200,000, of which the town was given authority to hold one-fourth. 
No further action was taken for about five years and little interest was manifested 
in the project until after the dry seasons of 1879 and 1880, when the water in many 
of the wells failed, and this stimulated the company to do something toward the 
establishment of a system of waterworks. A meeting of the incorporators was 
held early in the fall of 1880, the capital stock was fixed at $75,000, and the 
following officers were elected: Royal O. Storrs, president; Winslow Warren, 
secretary; Erastus Worthington, treasurer. Percy M. Blake was then employed 
as civil engineer to examine the field and report upon the best plan for obtaining 
a supply of water and the cost of constructing works. He made his report on 
December 28, 1880, recommending the Charles River as the most available source, 




MK.MOHIAL HALL, OLDHAM 




PUBLIC LIBRARY, DLDHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 131 

with a large "filter well" on the southerly side of the river near Bridge Street, 
from which water could be pumped to a standpipe on Walnut Street, and from the 
standpipe distributed to the different parts of the town. He estimated that a 
plant of this character could be built for less than the amount of the capital stock, 
which in the meantime had all been subscribed. 

The plan recommended by Mr. Blake was adopted and work was commenced 
as soon as practicable in 1881. Kendall & Roberts were awarded the contract for 
the construction of the standpipe ; Goodhue & Birnie, for laying the mains through 
the streets ; and the Knowles Pump Company, for the pumping station and ma- 
chinery. The diameter of the standpipe was increased from fifteen to twenty 
feet, and some other changes were made in the original plans, which brought the 
total cost of the works up to about ninety-two thousand dollars. The first public 
test was made early in December, 1881, and a few days later the water was 
turned into the mains for general use. 

On January 1, 1917, the company had about forty-one miles of mains and was 
supplying water to more than two thousand customers. The daily consumption of 
water is over one million gallons. Some years ago the old filter well was aban- 
doned and the water is now taken from driven wells. The result of this change 
has been a great improvement in the quality of the water, which has been ap- 
proved by the Massachusetts State Board of Health. 

MEMORIAL HALL 

At a town meeting held on March 6, 1865, the question of erecting a monument 
to the soldiers from Dedham who served in the Union army during the War of 
the Rebellion came up for discussion and was referred to the following com- 
mittee : Ira Cleveland, E. Burgess, Comfort Weatherbee, Eliphalet Stone, Eben- 
ezer F. Gay and J. N. Stevens. At an adjourned meeting on April 6, 1865, the 
committee reported in favor of the erection of a granite monument, "decorated 
with military emblems and provided with proper tablets for the inscription of the 
names, ages and date of the death of all who have died, with the names of the 
battlefields on which they have fallen, or the hospitals or prisons where they have 
died." Franklin Square was recommended as the location for the monument, 
which the committee estimated could be erected at an expense of from four to six 
thousand dollars. 

As the war had not yet come to a close, no action was taken upon the report 
of the committee, the meeting deciding to wait until peace was restored. On May 
7, 1866. at an adjourned town meeting, it was voted to build a "Memorial Hall," 
with walls of granite on the lot bounded by Church, High and Centre (now Wash- 
ington) streets, in Dedham Village, "to provide a suitable place for the trans- 
action of the town's business and a memorial to the soldiers of Dedham who died 
in the service of the United States during the War of the Rebellion." 

A building committee of five was chosen, viz. : Waldo Colburn, Augustus B. 
Endicott, William Ames, Addison Boyden and Merrill D. Ellis. The town treas- 
urer was authorized to borrow, with the consent of the selectmen, a sum not 
exceeding thirty-five thousand dollars for the erection of the building. Ware & 
Van Brunt of Boston were employed as architects. Prior to this time the lot had 
been purchased with a fund raised by subscription and placed in the hands of 



132 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

James Foord as trustee. The building is 64 by 104 feet, two stories high, with the 
town offices on the first floor and a large hall on the second. There is also an 
attic story, which has been used for several years by the Masonic lodge. In the 
main corridor on the first floor are the marble memorial tablets bearing the names 
of the Dedham soldiers who lost their lives in defense of the Union. On March 
2, 1868, the town treasurer was authorized to borrow $12,000 more to complete 
the building, which was dedicated on September 29, 1868, Bates' and Gilmore's 
bands furnishing the music and Erastus Worthington delivering the dedicatory 
address. On the front wall, facing Washington Street, upon a panel of Quincy 
granite, is the following inscription : 

To Commemorate 

The Patriotism and Fidelity 

Of Her Sons 

Who Fell 

In Defence of the Union 

In the War 

Of the Rebellion 

Dedham 
Erects This Hall 

A.D. 
MDCCCLXVII. 

This is said to be the first Memorial Hall, or monument of any description, 
erected to the memory of Union soldiers in the United States. 

THE TOWN SEAL 

No common seal for the Town of Dedham was adopted until the town meet- 
ing of April, 1878, at which it was voted to adopt a seal, with the following device, 
to wit : "In the centre of the foreground a shield, upon which is inscribed the rep- 
resentation of an ancient oak ; on the right of the background the representation of 
a factory building; on the left the implements of agriculture; above, the sword 
and scales of justice; and beneath, in a scroll the motto, 'Contentment;' in the 
upper semicircle of the border, 'The Town of Dedham,' and in the lower semi- 
circle, 'Plantation begun 1635, Incorporated 1636.' " 

It was also ordered that when the seal was executed it should remain in the 
custody of the town clerk. The design originated with a member of the Dedham 
Historical Society and was approved by that society before it was presented to 
the town for adoption. The oak was intended to represent the "Avery Oak," a 
further account of which is given in the chapter on "Historic Landmarks." The 
factory and agricultural implements portray the occupations of the inhabitants. 
The sword and scales signify that Dedham is the shire town of the county, and the 
motto — Contentment — serves as a reminder that it was the name selected by the 
first inhabitants of the settlement. 

POSTOFFICES 

For a number of years after Dedham was settled, letters were carried by pri- 
vate individuals or received and delivered at the Boston postoffice, which was 
established by order of the General Court on November 5, 1639, with Richard 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 133 

Fairbanks as postmaster. From that time until 1693 the postal service of Ded- 
ham was altogether under Massachusetts authority.- On May 1, 1693, Andrew 
and John Hamilton received a royal patent to establish mail communications 
between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and New York. Subsequently the route 
was extended to Williamsburg, Virginia. The first mailrider carried the mail 
from Portsmouth to Boston. There the second took it and passed through Rox- 
bury, Dedham, Rehoboth, Bristol and Newport to Saybrook, where he met the 
rider from New York. The Hamiltons continued to operate the route until 1707, 
when their patent was annulled and the crown controlled the mail service until 
December, 1775. After the Government of the United States was established, the 
mail route came under its jurisdiction. The first mention of a mail coach passing 
through Dedham was in 1785. The line of coaches between Boston and the West 
was organized by Eben Hazard, who lived at Jamaica Plain, and continued in 
operation until 1835. The railroad was opened to Dedham in 1836 and the old 
mail coach line went out of business. 

The first postoffice was established at Dedham in 1793, with Jeremiah Shuttle- 
worth as postmaster. Mann's Annals of Dedham states that on April 1, 1801, 
"letters are advertised as remaining in the postoffice in this town for people in 
the towns of Dedham, Medway, Bellingham, Medfield, Dover, Foxborough, Wa.1- 
pole, Hopkinton, Sharon, Canton, Franklin, Kittery, Stoughton, Sherburne and 
Cohasset." 

From this it can be seen that Dedham was the postal center for a large dis- 
trict. It would be interesting to know who some of the early postmasters were — 
or the early persons in charge of the station under the Hamilton regime — but many 
of the postoffice department records were destroyed by the burning of the national 
capitol and other public buildings in Washington by the British in the War of 1812, 
and it may be that the lack of information is due in a measure to this fact. 

In 1917 the Dedham Postoffice reported annual receipts of over seventeen 
thousand dollars. The office then employed thirteen people, including the branch 
at East Dedham. Edmond H. Bowler was then postmaster and the East Dedham 
branch was under the management of Fred A. Campbell. 

THE DEDHAM OF THE PRESENT 

Erastus Worthington, writing of the town in 1884, said: "The local business 
of Dedham, except in the woolen mills, has substantially passed away. The ses- 
sions of the courts and the transaction of other public business at the shire town 
of the county, still bring people to Dedham, but these come by one railway train 
only to leave by the next departing train. The hotels, once the centers of social 
life and gayety, have disappeared. Dedham village is mainly a place of residence 
for those whose business is in Boston. These constitute the main body of its most 
valued citizens, and upon them and upon the interest which they may take in its 
local affairs, must chiefly depend its future character and prosperity." 

Since that was written but little change has come to the town. In 1910 the 
population was 9,284, and in 191 5, according to the state census, it was 11,043, 
a gain of 1,759 i n fi ve y^ ar s- The assessed valuation of the property in 1916 was 
$16,722,310. Its schools, churches, public library, business interests, etc., are 
treated in other chapters of this work. Its principal attractions are its well-kept 
streets, beautiful shade trees and cozy homes. 



CHAPTER XVI 
THE TOWN OF DOVER 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES TOPOGRAPHY EARLY SETTLERS POLITICAL HISTORY 

THE PRECINCT SPRINGFIELD PARISH THE DISTRICT THE TOWN FIRST 

OFFICERS TOWN HALL TOWN SEAL POSTOFFICES FIRE DEPARTMENT EARLY 

TAVERNS THE TOWN NAME SUNDRY INCIDENTS DOVER IN I917. 

Dover is situated in the north central part of Norfolk County. It is bounded 
on the north by the towns of Wellesley and Xeedham ; on the east by Westwood ; 
on the south by Medfield and Walpole ; and on the west by Natick and Sherborn, 
two towns of Middlesex County. For about ten and a half miles the Charles 
River forms the boundary line of the town, separating it from Sherborn and from 
Wellesley and Needham. 

TOPOGRAPHY 

The word "hilly" might be used to describe generally the surface, though there 
are also some fertile valleys, in which are located some of the finest farms in 
Norfolk County. Several of the largest hills have been designated by names. 

Pine Rock Hill, the highest in the town, rises to a height of 449 feet above 
sea level and is the highest elevation in the county except the Blue Hill range in 
Milton. From its summit a fine view of the surrounding country can be obtained 
and on a clear day vessels can be seen in Massachusetts Bay. 

Pegan Hill, so named for an ancient tribe of Indians, lies on the boundary line 
between Dover and Natick. It is 420 feet high and from its top can be seen the 
state house in Boston, Bunker Hill monument, and some twenty villages. Around 
the base of this hill are attractive homes and fertile farms. 

Strawberry Hill, in the eastern part of the town, received its name because 
in early days its sides were covered with wild strawberry vines. Its summit is 
200 feet above the Charles River. 

In the southern part are Cedar and Oak Hills, the former 400 and the latter 
360 feet high. Here there are fine deposits of granite. From the quarries in 
these hills was taken the stone for the court-house at Dedham, the Dedham 
Memorial Hall, the asylum at Medfield and several other public buildings. 

Big Brook, so named in the early Dedham records, is the largest stream in the 
town and flows in a westerly direction into the Charles River. 

Clay Brook received its name because the early settlers in the vicinity took 
clay from its banks to be used in the construction of the dwelling houses. 

There are two streams called Mill Brook. One rises in Dedham and flows 
in a southerly course to the Charles River, and the other rises in Dover and flows 
in southerly direction into the Town of Medfield. 

134 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 135 

Noanet Brook rises in the southern part of the town and flows northwardly, 
emptying into the Charles River not far from Charles River Village. It is the 
outlet of Reserve Pond, which originally covered some twenty acres of land. In 
the early land transactions Noanet Brook played an important part, defining boun- 
daries of grants to settlers. It was named for an Indian chief. 

Trout Brook, west of Noanet and flowing in the same general direction, has 
its source in the Boiling Springs and takes its name from the great numbers of 
trout which formerly sported in its pure waters. 

In the southeastern part of the town is Great Spring, one of the largest in the 
county and furnishing a never-failing supply of the purest water. Its outlet, called 
Tubwreck Brook, is a tributary of the Neponset River. This stream derived its 
name in a curious manner. - One spring, when the brook was much higher than 
usual, Capt. James Tisdale embarked in a half hogshead for the purpose of float- 
ing down the brook to gather flood cranberries. The novel craft was capsized and 
from this incident the little creek became known as "Tubwreck Brook." 

EARLY SETTLERS 

So far as can be learned, the first settler within the limits of the present Town 
of Dover was Henry Wilson, a native of Kent, England, who came to Dedham 
in 1640. He received a grant of land, along with the other settlers, but never built 
upon it, preferring to go farther west, and he established his home in the easterly 
part of the town, not far from the Westwood line. He married and brought 
his wife to the new home in the wilderness, and here their first child, Michael 
Wilson, was born in 1644, probably the first white child to be born in the town. 
Game of all kinds was plentiful in those days, and it is said that Mr. Wilson, upon 
awakening in the morning after the first night spent in his new house, was sur- 
prised to see a huge wildcat looking in at the window. 

The first settler in the western part was doubtless Thomas Battle (spelled 
Battelle in some of the early records), who built his house on the Clay Brook 
Road, not far from the Natick line. In 1687 he received another grant of land 
consisting of "half an acre of upland and meadow bottom as it lieth his own land 
near the Great Brook, near Natick, bounded by his own land southeast the way 
to the brook, and by the brook in all other parts." Mr. Battle was elected one of 
the selectmen of Dedham in 1677 and served in that capacity for five years. He 
then held for two years the office of town clerk. 

In 1682 Thomas Battle sold a portion of his land to James Draper, of Rox- 
bury, whose son John married in 1686 and it is believed he settled in Dover soon 
after his marriage. Some years prior to that time a road had been opened from 
Medfield to South Natick, and several settlers located along the line of this road. 
Nathaniel Chickering came from England in 1681 and within a few years, by 
grant and purchase, became the owner of about one thousand acres of land, 
part of which lay within the present Town of Dover. He settled in Dover in 
1694. but did not live to occupy the house he built, his death occurring on the 21st 
of October of that year. His widow and children moved into the house and some 
of his descendants still live in the town. 

Roving bands of Indians were a great source of annoyance to the Dover 
pioneers. For protection and defense they built a fort of thick white oak plank, in 



136 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

two walls, filling in .between them with brick. Small windows were left at inter- 
vals through which the settlers could fire upon their assailants. The fort stood 
near the road leading from Medfield to Natick, on the high land overlooking the 
Charles River. It was torn down in the spring of 1800. 

POLITICAL HISTORY 

Dover was a part of Dedham for nearly a century after the latter town was 
incorporated in 1635. About 1725 the inhabitants of the western part of Dedham 
reached the conclusion that they should be freed from the rates for the support 
of the' minister at Dedham and permitted to build a meeting house of their own. 
Nothing was done, however, until March 3, 1728, when they petitioned the Ded- 
ham town meeting to be set off as a precinct, with the following bounds : "Begin- 
ning at Bubbling Brook, where it crosses the Medfield road ; thence, taking in the 
lands of Samuel Chickering, to the westerly end of Nathaniel Richards' house lot, 
and so down to the Charles River, with all the lands and inhabitants westerly of 
said line." 

The town granted the request of the petitioners on November 9, 1729, but 
almost immediately the inhabitants developed an ambition to be set off as a sepa- 
rate and distinct precinct by the General Court. Consequently, on November 19, 
1729, a petition, signed by Jonathan Battle and others, was presented to the Court 
making that request. The petition was referred to a committee, which reported on 
December 2, 1729, in favor of freeing the petitioners and their neighbors from 
paying the minister rate in Dedham. The report was accepted and an act passed 
providing that "Samuel Chickering and twelve others should attend church at 
Medfield, Ralph Day and four others the church at Needham, and Eleazer Ellis 
and thirteen others the church at Natick." 

Under this act the territory referred to in the petition became the Fourth 
Dedham Precinct. An old tax list of the precinct for the year 1732, three years after 
it was set off, shows the names of the following property holders, a few of whom 
may have been non-residents: Aaron Allen, Benjamin Allen, Eleazer Allen, 
Hezekiah Allen, Moses Allen, John Bacon, Michael Bacon, Jonathan Battle, Jona- 
than Battle, Jr., Nathaniel Battle, — Battle (widow) , Jonathan Bullard, John 
Bullard, Nathaniel Bullard, John Bullin, Eliphalet Chickering, Nathaniel Chicker- 
ing, Samuel Chickering, Ralph Day, John Draper, John Draper, Jr., Joseph Draper, 
Benjamin Ellis, Caleb Ellis, Eleazer Ellis, James Ellis, Jonathan Ellis, John Fisher. 
Joshua Fisher, Mrs. Jonathan Gay (widow), Abraham Harding, Ebenezer Knapp, 
Samuel Leach, Ebenezer Mason, Jonathan Mason, Seth Mason, Seth Mason, Jr., 
Thomas Mason, Joseph Merrifield, David Morse, Nathaniel Morse, Mattis Ockin- 
son, Jonathan Plimpton, John Rice, Ebenezer Robinson, Ephraim Ware, Jr., Jona- 
than Whiting, David Wight, Ephraim Wight, Samuel Wight, Nathaniel Wilson. 

For nearly twenty years no change was made in the conditions relating to 
attendance at church, the people being content to worship in other towns, but in 
1747 another appeal was made to the General Court to be established a distinct 
precinct, the act of 1729 merely freeing the people from paying the minister rate 
in Dedham without conferring full precinct privileges. Those who attended church 
at Medfield and South Natick opposed the movement and sent in a remonstrance. 
Some time was spent in winning over some of those opponents and on April 5, 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 137 

1748, a petition for a precinct organization was presented to the General Court. 
It was dated at "Dedham, March 30 ,1748,'' and was signed by the following resi- 
dent's of the territory it was proposed to include in the new precinct: Samuel 
Metcalf, Joshua Ellis, Hezekiah Allen, Jr., Ebenezer Newell, Thomas Merrifield, 
Jonathan Battle, Ralph Day, John Draper, Samuel Chickering, Josiah Ellis, Jona- 
than Day, Nathaniel Wilson, Ezra Gay, Timothy Ellis, Thomas Battle, Jonathan 
Bullard, Thomas Richards, Seth Mason, Joseph Chickering, Eliphalet Chickering, 
Jabez Wood, Oliver Bacon, John Bacon, Joseph Draper, Benjamin Ellis, David 
Wight, John Cheney, John Chickering, John Battle, Josiah Richards, Jonathan 
Whiting, Daniel Chickering, John Griggs, Abraham Chamberlain. 

On November 18, 1748, the General Court granted the prayer of the petitioners 
and the precinct now became the Fourth, or Springfield, Parish, with "all the 
powers and privileges which precincts were entitled to enjoy." Two days later 
the warrant was issued for the first precinct meeting, but as the General Court 
failed to nominate any one to notify the inhabitants, Joshua Ellis, a justice of the 
peace, warned the people to assemble at 10 o'clock A. M. on January 4, 1749, at 
the school house near the residence of Joseph Chickering "to choose a moderator, 
precinct clerk, and a committee to call parish meetings." At that meeting Joshua 
Ellis was elected moderator and later precinct clerk. The committee to call meet- 
ings consisted of Joshua Ellis, Joseph Chickering, Joseph Draper, Samuel Met- 
calf and Samuel Chickering. 

At a precinct meeting held on March 15, 1749, Jonathan Whiting was elected 
precinct treasurer, and the following committee was chosen to prepare timber 
for a meeting house : Hezekiah Allen, Daniel Chickering, Joseph Draper, Jona- 
than Day and Samuel Metcalf. Captain Allen, the chairman of the committee, was 
a carpenter by trade. This committee was instructed to prepare the materials for a 
meeting house "forty-two feet long, thirty-four feet wide, and twenty feet high 
from the top of ye eel to ye top of ye plate." 

Another meeting was held on March 24, 1749, at which an effort was made to 
choose a site for the meeting house. Two sites were proposed — one on the hill 
near Morse's swamp, and the other on the hill south of John Battle's house. The 
meeting then adjourned to give the voters an opportunity to inspect the two loca- 
tions proposed. Upon reassembling in the afternoon the question was submitted 
and resulted in a tie vote. It was then decided to leave the selection of a site to 
a committee of five, each member of which was to be a resident of some other 
town. The committee finally selected was composed of Thomas Greenwood, of 
Newton; Joseph Williams, of Roxbury ; Joseph Hewins, of Stoughton; Elkanah 
Billings, of Dorchester; and Joseph Ware, of Sherborn. After viewing the dif- 
ferent localities suggested, the committee reported in favor of "the hill east of 
Trout Brook," which report was accepted by the precinct "after much debate." 
A further history of this parish will be found in the chapters on Church History. 

W r ith the exception of the church rates, the people of Springfield Parish still 
paid taxes to Dedham. At times these taxes became rather burdensome and 
some of the inhabitants of the parish began to talk of separation. Then came 
the Revolution and all thoughts of a new town were for the time forgotten 
in the great struggle for independence. As the war drew to a close the subject 
was revived and on October 10, 1780, a precinct meeting voted "that we desire 



138 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

to be incorporated into a town." On February 16, 1781, another meeting was 
held, at which Col. John Jones, Capt. Hezekiah Allen, John Reed, Capt. Hezekiah 
Battle and Thomas Burridge were appointed a committee to prepare a petition 
for presentation to the Town of Dedham, asking to be set off from that town. 
At a Dedham town meeting held on June 4, 1781, the petition was granted upon 
the following conditions : "The question was put whether the town will consent 
that the Fourth Precinct in said town may be incorporated into a township, the 
said town relinquishing their right or share in the workhouse, school money, all 
donations, and other public privileges in said town. Passed in the affirmative." 

The conditions were accepted by the people of the Fourth Precinct on Sep- 
tember 17, 1781, when they voted to relinquish all their rights in or claims to the 
property of the Town of Dedham, provided they were incorporated into a sepa- 
rate town by the General Court. Col. John Jones, Joseph Haven and John 
Reed were appointed to present a petition for incorporation to the next session 
of the General Court. The petition was accordingly presented on January 16, 
1782, and passed the house, but on April 23, 1782, it was defeated in the senate. 
Another petition was presented to the General Court on March 17, 1784. In 
it the following reasons were given for asking that the precinct be incorporated 
as a town : 

"Those of our members that have attended town meetings in Dedham have 
been obliged to travel between four and ten miles out and as far home, to attend 
in the First Precinct, the constant place of town meetings in said town; and, by 
reason of the extra distance, the badness of the ways, and sometimes deep snow 
and stormy seasons, there hath not been more than two or three of said Fourth 
Precinct at their town meetings when matters of great weight are transacted. 
And a considerable part of said precinct are wearied with such unreasonable toil 
and travel, and determined several years ago never to attend another town 
meeting in said place again, and still adhere to their determination, whereby the 
interest of the said Fourth Precinct has frequently suffered, and probably some- 
times not from any unreasonable desire in the other precincts to infringe on 
the interest of the said Fourth Precinct, saving that the said Fourth Precinct 
has never been able to obtain a town meeting in rotation within their limit. 
That the extra expense and charges that would be incurred by their being incor- 
porated into a town would be fully compensated by their negotiating their affairs 
within themselves and without much travel ; and, although the said precincts 
are not many in number or opulent and wealthy, they are considerably filled with 
inhabitants and are increasing. But if they were fewer in number and of less 
ability, they are under the absolute necessity of being incorporated into a town 
by reason of their irregular form and distance from the other precincts." 

A committee of the General Court took the petition under consideration and 
reported that "in view of the smallness of the population, the request should not 
be granted." Having thus failed to secure the incorporation of a town, the people 
of the parish voted unanimously on June 28, 1784, to ask the General Court to 
incorporate them into a district as by that means they could be united with some 
other town in the election of a representative to the General Court. A petition to 
this effect was presented to the General Court and resulted in the passage of the 
following act, which was approved on July 7, 1784: 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 139 

"COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS 

"In the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-four. 

"An Act for erecting a District within the County of Suffolk by the name of 
Dover. 

"Whereas, the inhabitants of the Fourth Precinct in the Town of Dedham in 
said County have repeatedly and earnestly petitioned this Court that they may 
be incorporated into a district, and it appears that they labor under great diffi- 
culties in their present situation; 

"Lie it therefore enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in the 
General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the said Fourth 
Precinct in Dedham be, and it hereby is, incorporated into a district by the name 
of Dover, with all the powers, privileges and immunities of incorporated districts ; 
provided, that the freeholders and inhabitants of the said District of Dover shall 
pay their proportion of all taxes now assessed by and debts due from the said 
Town of Dedham, and that the said District of Dover relinquish all their rights, 
title and interest in and to the workhouse, school money and all donations, and 
other public privileges in said Town of Dedham. 

"And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the polls and estates 
in said District of Dover that were returned by the assessors for the said Town 
of Dedham on the last valuation, which then belonged to said Town of Dedham, 
be deducted from the return made by the said assessors and be placed to the said 
District of Dover until another valuation shall be taken. 

"And be it further enacted that Stephen Metcalf, Esq., be and is hereby em- 
powered to issue his warrant, directed to some principal inhabitant within the 
said District of Dover, requiring him to warn the freeholders and other inhabi- 
tants within the said District of Dover, qualified to vote in district affairs, to 
assemble at some suitable time and place in the said district, to choose such offi- 
cers as shall be necessary to manage the affairs of said district. 

"And be it further enacted that the selectmen of the Town of Dedham, fifteen 
days at least before the time of choosing a representative for the said town, shall 
give notice of the time and place by them ordered for that purpose in writing, 
under their hands, to the selectmen of said District of Dover, to the intent the 
•selectmen of said district may issue their warrant to the constable or constables 
of the said district, to warn the inhabitants thereof to meet with the said Town of 
Dedham at time and place so appointed for the choice of a representative. 

"In the House of Representatives, July 6, 1784. 

"This bill, having had three several readings, passed to be enacted. 

"Samuel A. Otis, Speaker. 

"In the Senate, July 7, 1784. 
"This bill, having had two several readings, passed to be enacted. 

"Samuel Adams, President. 
"Approved, John Hancock." 

Under the laws of Massachusetts in 1784, a district was endowed with all the 
powers and exercised all the functions of a town, with the exception of having a 
representative in the General Court. On August 9, 1784, the first district meeting 
was held in the meeting house. Col. John Jones, Deacon Joseph Haven and Lieut. 



140 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Ebenezer Newell were elected selectmen ; Col. John Jones, clerk ; William Whiting, 
treasurer ; Theodore Newell constable and tax collector. Dover remained attached 
to Dedham for representative purposes until 1789, when a new representative 
district was formed of Medfield and Dover. For forty-seven years after that 
date the voters of Dover went annually to Medfield to cast their ballots for a 
representative to the General Court. 

On February 17, 1836, the selectmen of Dover — Walter Stowe, Lowell Perry 
and Timothy Allen — pursuant to instructions given them at a previous district 
meeting, presented a petition to the General Court asking to be incorporated as a 
town. The petition was granted on the 31st day of March following, and Dover, 
having passed through all the vicissitudes of precinct, parish and district, became 
a full-fledged town. The first town officers were : Selectmen, Walter Stowe, 
Lowell Perry and Hiram W. Jones ; Clerk, Noah A. Fiske ; Treasurer, George 
dickering; Representative, Rev. Ralph Sanger. Noah A. Fiske was first elected 
clerk in 1825 and held the office for twenty-four years. George Chickering served 
continuously as treasurer from 1821 to" 1842. 

TOWN HALL 

For many years the district and town meetings were held in the meeting house. 
When that structure was destroyed by fire on January 20, 1839, the town officials 
offered to assist in the building of a new one, with the understanding that the 
vestry might be used for town meetings. A meeting was held at the Centre school 
house on February 11, 1839, at which Daniel Mann, John Williams and Hiram W. 
Jones were appointed a committee on the part of the parish to superintend the 
erection of a new meeting house. The town appointed Walter Stowe, Lowell 
Perry, Joseph A. Smith, John Shumway and Jeremiah Marden a committee to 
cooperate with the parish committee, and the sum of three hundred dollars was 
appropriated as the town's share of the cost. This sum was used in the construc- 
tion of the vestry, which was used for town purposes until 1880. 

The ceiling of this vestry was only eight feet high and it was poorly lighted and 
ventilated. In 1859 a petition signed by Aaron Bacon and thirty-eight other tax- 
payers came before the town meeting asking that a new hall be erected, but it was 
not granted. Twenty years later (1879) the question again came before the town 
meeting, when the sum of three thousand dollars was appropriated for a new hall. 
Warren Sawin, Eben Higgins and William A. Howe were appointed a committee 
to procure plans. They reported in favor of a two-story building, a site was 
selected on the common facing Springdale Avenue, and the work was commenced. 
On July 16, 1879, just after the walls were up and the roof completed, a cyclone 
struck the unfinished building and ''scattered it to the four winds." One of the 
workmen was killed and others were more or less seriously injured. A meeting 
was called to determine what should be done under the circumstances and the board 
of selectmen — John Humphrey, Asa Talbot and Barnabas Paine — were instructed 
to proceed with the erection of a new building and another appropriation was 
made. The loss caused by the storm amounted to $1,926.85. The selectmen chose 
a new site and decided to build a one-story hall with basement, after plans made 
by Thomas W. Silloway of Boston. The new hall was dedicated on June 17, 1880, 
with appropriate ceremonies. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 141 

With the growth of the town and the establishment of a public library, the 
one-story structure was found to be inadequate, and in the spring of 1893 a com- 
mittee, consisting of Eben Higgins, Barnabas Paine and Benjamin N. Sawin, was 
appointed to consider the improvement of the building. This committee reported 
in favor of raising the building and placing under it another story, eleven feet 
in height, which report was accepted and the work was completed in the fall of 
1893, at a cost of $3,594.28, giving Dover a town house ample for all needs. In 
addition to the assembly hall, the building contains a banquet hall, kitchen, toilet 
rooms, quarters for the town officers, and a fireproof vault for the preservation 
of the town records. 

TOWN SEAL 

On April 30, 1894, nearly one hundred years after the incorporation of the 
District of Dover, the town adopted a seal which is thus described by Henry E. 
Woods in heraldic language : "Upon a field showing on the dexter side a school 
house and brook, and on the sinister side a hill and Indians, an escutcheon bearing : 
azure on a mount vert a meeting house, without steeple, proper; crest, a plough 
and garb, crosswise, proper; motto 'Incorporated 1836,' surrounded by a circle 
inscribed in chief 'Town of Dover,' and in base 'Massachusetts,' divided on the 
dexter side by 'Parish 1748' and the sinister side by 'District 1784.' ' : 

The meeting house is made the prominent figure upon the escutcheon to indi- 
cate the desire of the early inhabitants to have the privilege of worshiping among 
themselves ; the school house on the left (representing the building erected in 1762) 
shows that education is the handmaiden of religion, and that it was so regarded by 
the Dover pioneers ; the hill on the right represents Pegan Hill, only part of it 
being shown to indicate that it is not wholly within the limits of the town ; and the 
principal industry of the people is indicated by the plough and sheaf of grain sur- 
mounting the shield. 

POSTOFFICES 

The first postoffice in the town was established at Dover in February, 1838, 
with John Williams as postmaster. Prior to the establishment of this office the 
mail was brought from the office at Dedham by whoever might be passing between 
the two towns. At first there were but two mails during the week, on Wednesdays 
and Saturdays. In February, 1840, Rev. Ralph Sanger succeeded Air. Williams 
as postmaster and held the office until January, i860, when he resigned. During 
his administration daily mails were inaugurated. 

Later in the year 1838 a second postoffice was established at Charles River 
Village and Josiah Newell was appointed postmaster. This office was established 
with the understanding that the mail should be delivered to it by interested persons 
without expense to the Government. When the railroad was completed the office 
was removed to the railway station. Upon the introduction of the free rural 
delivery system all the offices in the town were discontinued except the one at 
Dover, though the inhabitants still receive daily mail by carrier. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

The first record of any effort to organize a fire department, or to take steps 
for the means of extinguishing fires, was made in 181 1, when some of the resi- 



142 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

dents in the western part of the town presented a petition to the selectmen asking 
that the subject be taken into consideration. The board appointed Benjamin Guy, 
Jr., John Plimpton, Seth Mason, Noah Fiske, Jonathan Battle, Jr., Obed Hart- 
shorn, Benjamin Guy, James Mann and Draper Smith a committee "to draft some 
plan of such an engine or machine to extinguish fires as will be suitable to the 
district, and to calculate the probable cost of the same." 

The committee was unable to present any device that was acceptable to the 
people of the district, at a reasonable cost, and more than forty years elapsed before 
the question again came up before the authorities. In 1858 it was proposed in 
the town meeting that the selectmen be authorized "to provide a set of fire hooks, 
ladders, axes and carriage for the same," but again nothing was done. In 1896 
a committee was appointed to purchase a wagon, ladders and chemical fire extin- 
guishers, and an appropriation of $500 was made for the purpose. 

From this modest beginning has been developed the Dover Fire Department, 
which at the close of the year 1916 consisted of twenty men, equipped with two 
trucks, ladders, a number of fire extinguishers, etc. The appropriation for 1916 
was $1,600, which was expended under the supervision of a board of fire engineers 
composed of C. F. Lyman, V. A. Hovey and J. A. Knowles. The firemen receive 
pay only for the time they are actually on duty. 

EARLY TAVERNS 

During the old colonial days the tavern was an important institution and gen- 
erally stood near the meeting house. As there were no newspapers, the gossip 
around the tavern fire was the principal channel through which news was dissemi- 
nated. It is believed that the first tavern in Dover was kept by Ebenezer Newell, 
a cooper by trade, who came from Needham a few years before the middle of the 
Eighteenth Century and opened a house of entertainment near the center of the 
parish. In 1764 he was elected one of the selectmen of Dedham and served on 
the board for seven years. When the Town of Dedham decided in 1774 that no 
imported tea should be used by the inhabitants, he was one of the committee to see 
ithat the order was properly observed. At the time of the "Lexington Alarm" he 
was a lieutenant in Captain Guild's company and later served in the Continental 
army. He was succeeded as "mine host" of the tavern by Daniel Whiting. 

John Reed kept a public house for a short time before the beginning of the 
Revolution, but the best known tavern in the history of Dover was the Williams 
Tavern, which was situated near the center of the district. It was kept by John 
Williams, who added a wing on the north side early in the Nineteenth Century, 
where many social gatherings were held. The "Sons of Liberty" held meetings 
in the great room, where weighty matters were discussed, while the genial boniface 
passed around New England rum to enliven the debate. The Boston & Woonsocket 
coaches stopped daily at this tavern, and many prominent men were at one 
time or another guests of "The Williams." 

THE TOWN NAME 

When the petition went to the General Court in January, 1782, the petitioners 
asked that the town might be named Derby. It is said that this choice was that 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 143 

of Col. John Jones, chairman of the committee which presented the petition, and 
was selected in honor of Derby, England. In the bill incorporating the district 
the name was changed to Dover, after the old English town. "Either name would 
probably satisfy Colonel Jones' fondness for old English names." Before the 
District of Dover was erected, the territory was included in Springfield Parish, a 
name derived from the beautiful boiling springs which form the source of Trout 
Brook and the field in which they are located. 

SUNDRY INCIDENTS 

Prior to 1730 the people of Dover buried their dead in the cemetery at Dedham. 
In February, 1730, a small tract of ground on the farm of Nathaniel Chickering 
was inclosed as a cemetery. In 1746 Mr. Chickering donated this ground to 
the precinct in the following document, to wit : "I give and bequeath to the West 
Precinct of the Town of Dedham the burying-ground as it lyeth now within fence, 
to be for the use of the said precinct for a burying place." 

The first body to be buried here was that of John Battle, a grandson of Thomas 
Battle, whose death occurred on February 14, 1730. Additions were made to this 
cemetery in 1762, 1826, 1864 and 1891. The oldest gravestone is that over the 
grave of John Wight, who died on October 4, 1743, "in ye 12th year of his age." 

The first preacher, after the parish was established in 1748, was Thomas Jones, 
who began his work on the first Sunday in December, 1749, and filled an engage- 
ment of thirteen weeks. The first meeting house was dedicated in December, 1754, 
though not completed at the time. It was finished in the spring of 1758. 

In 1726 the Town of Dedham appropriated five pounds "to support a school 
in the westerly part of Dedham." This was the first appropriation from the 
mother town for educational purposes in Dover, though schools had been taught 
there prior to that date. 

A law was passed by the General Court in 1760 that "any persons able of body 
who shall absent themselves from public worship of God on the Lord's Day shall 
pay a fine of ten shillings." Col. John Jones held a commission as justice under the 
king and the following is taken from his "Book of Minits" : 

"Dom. Rex vs Ephraim Bacon) 

"Suffolk County \ SS> 

"Memo. That on ye 25th day of July, 1774, Ephraim Bacon of Dedham 
(Dover), yeoman in ten pounds, Oliver Kendrick of Dedham (Dover), yeoman in 
ten pounds, Recognized that ye said Ephraim should appear before ye Court of 
General Sessions of ye Peace to be held at Boston on ye 26th Inst at 10 A.M., to 
answer for his unlawfully absenting himself from Publick Worship of God on 
Lord's Days three months as Expressed in a bill of indictment filed in said Court. 

"Suffolk ss., August 8, 1774. Ephraim Bacon in ye same sum and ye same 
surety recognized and held to answer at ye General Sessions of ye peace ye 1st 
Tuesday in October next." 

The records do not show whether a verdict was rendered for the plaintiff or 
the defendant, but as the laws at that time were rigidly and impartially enforced, 
and Ephraim appears to have been somewhat habitual in his non-attendance at 
church, it is quite likely that he was made to pay his fine in accordance with the 
statute. 



144 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

DOVER IN I917 

In years gone by there was some manufacturing- carried on in Dover, but the 
establishments have been discontinued or removed to localities where conditions 
were more favorable. The Dover of today is a typical New England agricultural 
community, some of the finest farms in Norfolk County being located in this 
town. Dover has Baptist, Unitarian and Congregational churches, a good public 
school system, a public library with over six thousand volumes, a historical society 
which occupies a building given by Benjamin N. Sawin and his wife and known 
as the "Sawin Memorial Building," well kept streets and highways, a public park, 
etc. The Boston & Woonsocket division of the New York, New Haven & Hart- 
ford passes through the central portion and affords transportation facilities. In 
1910 the population was 798 and in 1915, according to the state census, it was 999, 
a gain of 201 in five years. In 191 5 the property was valued for tax purposes at 

$7,483,596. 

Following is a list of the town officers as they were at the beginning of the 
year 1917: Selectmen, Overseers of the Poor and Board of Health, Charles S. 
Bean; James H. Chickering and Michael W. Comiskey; Clerk, John H. Faulk; 
Treasurer, Eben Higgins ; Auditor, George Battelle; Assessors, Judson S. Battelle, 
Eben Higgins and John V. Schaffner; School Committee, Richard H. Bond, Dr. 
William T. Porter and Mrs. Agnes Y. Rogers ; Highway Surveyor, James McGill. 



CHAPTER XVII 
THE TOWN OF FOXBORO 

FORM OF NAME — LOCATION, BOUNDxVRIES AND TOPOGRAPHY — EARLY HISTORY — FIRST 

SETTLERS INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN FIRST TOWN MEETING ADJUSTING 

THE BOUNDARIES — TYPICAL PIONEERS — TOWN HALL MEMORIAL HALL — WATER- 
WORKS — FIRE. DEPARTMENT — -TRANSPORTATION — FOXBORO IN I9I/. 

In the early records relating to this town the name is spelled "Foxborough," 
which is still used by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but the form adopted 
by the United States Government as the name of the postoffice, and in general 
use at the present day, is "Foxboro." The town is located in the southern part 
of Norfolk County and is bounded as follows : On the north by the Town of 
Walpole ; northeast and east by Sharon ; south by Bristol County ; west and north- 
west by the towns of Plainville, Wrentham and Norfolk. The surface is rolling 
and there are several lakes or ponds in the town. The large pond called Neponset 
Reservoir, the source of one branch of the Neponset River, is situated in the 
northern part; Cocasset Pond is in the southwestern part and Miramichi (com- 
monly called Shepard's) Pond is on the line between Foxboro and Plainville. 
Cocasset and Miramichi ponds are drained by Furnace Brook, which flows in a 
southerly direction into Bristol County. In the eastern part is Billings Brook, 
which also follows a southerly course and crosses the southern boundary line 
of the county a short distance south of East Foxboro. 

EARLY HISTORY 

A part of the present Town of Foxboro was included in Dedham when the 
latter town was incorporated in September, 1635, but the greater portion of it 
was embraced in the "New Grant'' that was made to Dorchester in 1637. Wren- 
tham was set off from Dedham in October, 1673, an d included a small portion 
of what is now Foxboro. In December, 1715, the General Court erected "Dor- 
chester South Precinct," which embraced the present towns of Canton, Sharon 
and Stoughton, and that part of the "New Grant" now within the Foxboro limits. 
Walpole was incorporated on December 10, 1724, and Stoughton on December 
22, 1726. The latter included the greater part of Foxboro, all of Canton and 
Sharon, and a large portion of the original Town of Dedham. Sharon was cut 
off as the Town of Stoughtonham in June, 1765, and a small part of what is 
now Foxboro was included in the new town. Thirteen years later the Town 
of Foxboro was incorporated. John Shepard, a native of the town, was born 
on February 25, 1705, while the territory was a part of Dorchester, and lived 
to be over one hundred years of age. Through the various legislative changes 

Vol. I— 10 

145 



146 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

above mentioned, the story became current that he had been ''a resident of three 
different counties and five different towns, yet lived in the same house all the 
time." 

FIRST SETTLERS 

About 1669 one William Hudson received a grant of five hundred acres of 
land (now in Foxboro) from the Dorchester authorities, and on October 21, 
1676, conveyed the entire tract to Thomas Platts of Boston for two hundred 
and seventy-five pounds. In the deed the land was described as "situate, lying 
and being in the wilderness, between Dedham and Seaconet, commonly called 
or known by the name of 'Wading River Farm.' ' : Thomas Platts died in the 
summer of 1692 and the land passed to his son Thomas, who conveyed it to 
Jacob Shepard on July 11, 1704. So far as known this Jacob Shepard was the 
first white man to establish a home in what is now the Town of Foxboro. He 
was the father of John Shepard, above mentioned, who was probably the first 
white child born in the town. 

Some years later the Morses and Boydens came from Medfield, the Capens 
from Dorchester, the Belchers from Sharon, and the Carpenters from Rehoboth. 
In 1713 the proprietors of the outlying lands in Dorchester were incorporated 
as "The Proprietors of the Undivided Lands," an organization which continued 
in existence for about sixty years, and through which the title to much of the 
land in Foxboro was obtained. The following list of residents on January 1, 
1777, was prepared by Ebenezer Hill, at that time one of the selectmen of the 
Town of Stoughtonham (now Sharon) : Zuriel Atherton, Samuel Balcom, John 
Basset, Eleazer Belcher, Beriah Billings, Ebenezer Billings, Elijah Billings, Jona- 
than Billings, Jonathan Billings, 2nd, Samuel Billings, William Billings, Josiah 
Blanchard, Samuel Bradshaw, Nehemiah Carpenter, Timothy Clapp, William Clapp, 
Nathan Clark, Nathaniel Clark, William Clark, Stephen Cobb, John Comey, Wil- 
liam Comey, Jacob Cook, Zebulon Dean, Josiah Farrington, David Forrest, Ebe- 
nezer Hill, Spencer Hodges, Jacob Lenard, Lemuel Lyon, Elijah Morse, Ezra 
Morse, Levi Morse, Nat Morse, Elizabeth Payn (widow), Jacob Payn, John 
Payn, Joseph Payn, William Payn, William Payson, Ezekiel Pierce. Thomas 
Pogge, Jeremiah Rhodes, Joseph Rhodes, Joseph Rhodes, 2nd, John Richardson, 
Thomas Richardson, Josiah Robbins, Daniel Robeson, Seth Robeson, Ephraim 
Shepard, Israel Smith, John Smith, John Sumner, Joseph Tifney, David White, 
David W'ilkeson, Job Willis, David Wood, Jethro Wood, Joseph Wood and 
William Wright. 

INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN 

The total population at the beginning of the year 1777, based upon Mr. Hill's 
list, was 106. Toward the close of that year a petition was circulated and signed 
by a majority of the legal voters and taxpayers, asking the General Court to 
establish a new town. The petition was granted and Foxboro was duly incor- 
porated by the act of June 10, 1778, the title of which is as follows: "An Act 
for incorporating certain lands in the County of Suffolk, formerly belonging to 
the Town of Dorchester, but now to the towns of Wrentham, Walpole, Stoughton 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 147 

# 

and Stoughtonham, with the inhabitants living thereon into a town by the name 
of Foxbo rough." 

On June 29, 1878, Hon. E. P. Carpenter, in an address at Foxboro, gave the 
following account of how the town obtained its name: "Charles James Fox, 
born 1749, son of Lord Holland, in Parliament before he was twenty years of 
age, was already an eminent man when, in 1774, he opposed the Boston Port 
Bill and defended the conduct of the colonies. He said in 1775 °f Lord North, 
the prime minister of George III, 'The King of Prussia, nay, even Alexander 
the Great, never gained more in one campaign than Lord North has lost. He has 
lost a whole continent.' One of Fox's biographers says — 'During the whole 
American war, Mr. Fox successively protested against every measure of hostility 
directed against the colonies.' Of him the Foxborough soldiers, who marched 
in quickstep at the 'Lexington Alarm,' and to Bunker Hill and Dorchester 
Heights, had heard, and, whatever the faults of that famous British statesman, 
no friend of American independence need blush to bear his name." 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

On June 29, 1778, the first town meeting was held and the following officers 
were elected: Josiah Pratt, John Everett, Benjamin Pettee, Daniel Robinson 
and Joseph Shepard, selectmen; Swift Payson, clerk; Nehemiah Carpenter, treas- 
urer ; John Comey, constable ; Joseph Pratt, John Everett, Josiah Mann, John 
Shepard, Jr., and Nathaniel Clark, assessors ; Benjamin Guild and Jacob Cook, 
tithingmen. 

ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES 

In the original act of incorporation it was provided that Eleazer Robbins, 
Daniel Morse, Elisha Morse, Mary Patten (widow), David Pratt, Mary Boyden 
(widow), Solomon Morse, L T riah Atherton, Samuel Morse, Josiah Hodges, Eliph- 
alet Hodges, Josiah Blanchard, John Everett, Isaac Pratt, Joseph Pratt's heirs 
and Joseph Gilbert, "with their estates shall remain to the towns to which they 
now belong." 

Some of those above named were inhabitants of Stoughton — a few living in 
that part afterward set off as Sharon — some lived in Walpole, and some in 
Wrentham. On March 12, 1793, the governor of Massachusetts approved an 
act of the Legislature, Section 1 of which provided that "Eleazer Robbins, Daniel 
Morse, Elisha Morse, Solomon Morse, Samuel Morse, Isaac Pratt, Ralph Thomp- 
son, widow Mary Patten, David Patten, Caleb Atherton, Eli Atherton, Abijah 
Pratt and Seth Boyden be, and they are hereby, set off from the Town of 
Stoughton and annexed to the Town of Foxborough, with their families and 
estates," etc. 

Section 2 of the same act reads : "And be it further enacted that Shadrack 
Winslow and David Wilbore, with their families and estates ; also Levi Pratt, 
Jesse Pratt, Benoni Pratt, Alexander Doby and the heirs of Jonathan Wilbore, 
now lying within the bounds of Sharon and Stoughton, be, and hereby are, set 
off from said towns and annexed to the Town of Foxborough." 

Section 3 describes the line between Foxboro and Sharon, but this line was 



148 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

again altered by the act of January 30, 1833, and was located as it is at present 
by the act of February 28, 1850. In March, 1834, part of Foxboro was annexed 
to Walpole. The line between Stoughton and Foxboro was adjusted by the act 
of March 12, 1793. 

TYPICAL PIONEERS 

Seth Boyden, whose name appears among those annexed to Foxboro by the 
act of 1793, settled in Stoughton about 1738. Twelve years later he was col- 
lector for the second ministerial precinct in Stoughton, as shown by an old rate 
book still preserved by his descendants. The precinct included the present towns 
of Stoughton and Sharon and a large part of Foxboro. His descendants also 
have (or had only a few years since) "The Records of the Proprietors of a lot 
of land, being ye forty-fifth lot in ye Twenty-five Divisions of land (so called) 
lying and being in ye Township of Dorchester, and now in ye Township of 
Stoughton, in ye County of Suffolk, and is held in common by ye said Pro- 
prietors — Begun the tenth day of April, 1739, Seth Boyden, Proprietors' Clerk." 

The lot of land to which this record refers was partly in what is now the 
Town of Sharon and partly in Foxboro. It contained a bed of iron ore which 
was worked for several years. In the warrant issued by Jonathan Ware, March 
4, 1738, for a town meeting in Wrentham, the sixth article was "To determine 
in what manner ye Iron oar and stream in s d land shall be disposed of." At 
the meeting it was voted "That the iron oar now or hereafter found shall 
be reserved to ye proprietors according to their interest, each of whom may 
between the last Tuesday in August and October dige oar annually and at noe 
other time of the year." The stream is now known as Furnace Brook and was 
reserved likewise to the proprietors "to build a mill or dam on provided they do 
not raise such a head of water as to float ye adjacent lands or meaddows at any 
other time of the year than between ye' first day of October and ye 20th day of 
Aprile annually." 

Lot No. 45 contained 437 acres, of which Seth Boyden received about 270 
acres. According to his account, in the old record referred to, he received as 
his share of ore seventy-five tons between the years 1740 and 1755. Mr. Boyden 
held several offices before the incorporation of Foxboro. 

John Everett was one of the first settlers in the town and was a blacksmith 
by trade. He was one of the first board of selectmen and one of the first assessors. 
In 1779 he was elected a representative to the General Court and the same year 
was chosen a delegate to the constitutional convention which framed the first 
organic law of Massachusetts. 

Swift Payson, the first town clerk, was a son of Rev. Phillips Payson, at one 
time pastor. of the church at Walpole. In his address at Foxboro's centennial 
in June, 1878, Mr. Carpenter told this story of Swift Payson: "He was a 
humorous, whimsical, but kindly character. Passionately fond of music, his first 
accumulations as a boy were devoted to the purchase of a violin. Horrified at 
the sound of the instrument, accidentally heard after a long concealment, his 
father cried: "Where did you get that fiddle?' T bought it, sir,' was the appar- 
ently innocent reply. 'Then sell it at the first opportunity ; let me never hear it 
again.' Shortly after the Ministerial Association met with Mr. Payson, to whom, 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 149 

sitting in his parlor, demurely entered the lad with his violin. 'Gentlemen, would 
either of you like a first-rate fiddle? My father says I may sell it, and I thought 
it only right to give you the first chance.' It is to be hoped that the boy's wit 
saved his fiddle. It may have done good service in Foxborough, for tradition 
says our people, in the midst of hardship and privation, were yet gay and 
pleasure-loving and 'often danced on sanded floors to the scraping of the catgut.' ' : 

Aaron Everett was a carpenter; Joseph Everett a tanner and glove-maker; 
Joseph Comey was the village shoemaker; Eleazer Belcher, who lived near the 
northeast corner of the town, made potash and kept a small stock of goods, and 
Amos Boyden was a surveyor, who in 1779 was directed ''to take and award 
all ye highways or roads in your squardren ; also all ye other roads belonging 
to ye Town of Foxborough in that part late belonged to Stoughton." 

The first house built at Foxboro Centre was the building long known as the 
"Old Carpenter House." It was built in 1749-50 by Nehemiah Carpenter, who 
came from Rehoboth, Bristol County, and stood on a way leading off from South 
Street and not far from the town house. Some years after it was built it was 
used as a tavern. It was torn down in 1880. 

TOWN HALL 

The early town meetings were held in a meeting house that was erected 
about 1763, fifteen years before the town was incorporated. In 1821 Rev. Thomas 
Williams, being about to leave the parish, offered the society five hundred dollars 
(the amount of his original settlement) if it would apply the money toward 
building a new meeting house. The offer was accepted and the work of tearing 
down the old church was commenced forthwith, without consulting the selectmen. 
On December 22, 1821, the selectmen issued a warrant for a town meeting, "to 
assemble at their meeting house on Monday, the 4th day of January, 1822, to see 
if the town will repair their meeting house, or do anything relative to the 
premises." 

Before the time for the meeting arrived the meeting house had entirely dis- 
appeared, and the records of that meeting begin with the statement : "Pursuant 
to the foregoing warrant the town assembled on the spot where the meeting house 
stood. Voted, to direct their treasurer not to prosecute any person or persons on 
account of the parish taking down their meeting house." 

From that time until November 14, 1836, town meetings were held in the 
Union Hall, over the school house, which had been built in 1793. It stood near 
the present Baptist Church. During the next eleven years the town meetings 
were held in Sumner's Hall, where the Union Building was afterward erected, 
then in Cocasset Hall until the spring of 1856, and from then until the com- 
pletion of the town hall in the American Hall. The town hall was built in 1857, 
by a committee consisting of E. P. Carpenter, Otis Cary, Henry Hobart, F. D. 
Williams and Oliver Carpenter. A town meeting on March 14, 1857, voted to 
build the hall and the first meeting was held in it on March 29, 1858. The cost 
of the building and the ground on which it stands was $15,496.79. In 1874 an 
addition was built for school purposes at a cost of $26,244.31. Upon the 
completion of the new Savings Bank Building in the spring of 191 5, the town 
offices were moved to the second floor of the Bank Building. 



150 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

MEMORIAL HALL 

In the warrant for a town meeting to be held on March 10, 1866, was an 
article in reference to a monument to Foxboro's soldiers who fell in the service 
of their country. At the meeting it was voted to refer the subject to a com- 
mittee, consisting of E. P. Carpenter, William H. Thomas, Otis Cary, George 
T. Ryder and William Carpenter. This committee made an extended report 
on March 6, 1867, recommending the erection of a memorial hall, and ten days 
later the same committee was instructed to procure plans and estimates in accord- 
ance with the report. The hall was erected in 1868 at a cost of about thirteen 
thousand dollars, made up of town appropriations, subscriptions and donations. 
It stands near the center of the old cemetery, and was dedicated on June 17, 
1868, the principal address being delivered by Hon. George B. Loring. At the 
rieht of the entrance is a marble tablet, with a medallion of flint-lock musket, 
powder-horn and cartridge-box in relief, and the names of those who served in 
the Revolution and the War of 1812. Upon the opposite side of the doorway 
is the "Roll of Honor," giving the names of those who served in the War of the 
Rebellion — 1861-65 — and on a separate tablet, facing the entrance, are the names 
of "Our Honored Dead,'' who lost their lives in that great conflict. 

WATERWORKS 

At a town meeting held on March 23, 1878, E. P. Carpenter, Virgil S. Pond, 
N. F. Howard, William T. Cook and Charles F. Howard were appointed a com- 
mittee to consider the question of establishing a system of water supply for the 
town. This committee made a unanimous report at a subsequent meeting in 
favor of some system of waterworks, and suggested a plan by which the town 
could be supplied with water. The matter was then taken to the Legislature, and 
on April 4, 1879, an act was approved, Section 1 of which was as follows: 

"The inhabitants of the Milage of Foxborough in the County of Norfolk, 
liable to taxation in the Town of Foxborough, and residing within a radius of 
half a mile from the center of the public common in" said village, shall constitute 
a water district and are made a body corporate by the name of The Foxborough 
Water Supply District, for the purpose of supplying themselves with pure 
water," etc. 

Setcion 2 authorized the people of the district to use the waters of Governor's 
Brook, or any springs, natural ponds, brooks or other water sources ; Section 3 
made the district liable for damages to property by the construction of dams, 
reservoirs, etc., and Section 4 authorized a loan not exceeding fifty thousand 
dollars. 

Nothing further was done for about seven years. In the spring of 1886 the 
"Mansfield and Foxborough Water Company" was formed by F. D. Williams, 
Virgil S. Pond, William B. Crocker, John Q. Lynch, C. W. Hodges and George 
F. Williams of Foxboro, and a like number of Mansfield men. The company 
asked the Legislature to grant it a charter of incorporation, which was refused 
on account of the previous incorporation of the Foxborough Water District. 
The Mansfield Water District was then incorporated on June 28, 1886, with 
power to borrow $75,000, and the Foxboro people were left just where they were 
at the start. 




STATE HOSPITAL. FOXBORO 













hioh. school, foxboko 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 151 

On May 28, 1889, a meeting was held to take action on the question of 
increasing the loan $75,000, and a request to that effect was presented to the 
next session of the Legislature. By the act of April 2, 1890, the increased loan 
was authorized, provided it was approved by a two-thirds vote of the people 
living within the limits of the district. An election was held on May 14, 1890, 
at which the proposition failed to receive the support of the required two-thirds. 
On June 11, 1891, another act was passed by the Legislature relating to this 
subject. It repealed the feature of the act of the preceding year requiring a 
two-thirds vote, and substituted therefor a "majority vote.'' Under this act the 
people authorized the construction of the waterworks, which were completed 
about three years later. The town is now divided into two water districts — 
Foxboro and East Foxboro. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

Xo one seems to know just when the first volunteer fire company was organized 
in Foxboro, but it was many years ago. On June 29, 1878, the town celebrated 
its centennial and the following issue of the Foxboro Times, in giving an account 
of the ceremonies, said : "At the present time we have a population of nearly 
thirty-two hundred souls ; a town house that cost nearly twenty-five thousand 
dollars, with a school house addition worth as much more ; six other school 
houses, valued at from six hundred to two thousand dollars each ; a thirteen 
thousand dollar memorial hall, with an excellent public library of nearly three- 
thousand volumes therein; two commodious engine houses; fire apparatus (with 
an able department to use it), which cost not less than ten thousand dollars, 
and which is worth, when it is considered the amount of property it has saved 
to our citizens, a much larger sum." 

That was written nearly forty years ago and in that period the efficiency 
of the department has been increased to keep pace with the growth of the 
town. The cost of maintenance for the year 1916 was $1,718.68, and during the 
year thirty-two calls were answered. In the warrant for the town meeting to 
be held March 6, 1916, Article 8 was "To authorize the treasurer, with the 
approval of the selectmen, to borrow money in anticipation of the revenue of 
the current financial year." The minutes of the meeting, relating to this article, 
show that it was "Voted, that the treasurer, with the approval of the selectmen, 
be and hereby is authorized to borrow the sum of four thousand dollars for 
the purpose of purchasing a combination auto truck for the use of the Fire 
Department, and to issue two notes of two thousand each, of the town therefor, 
payable one November 1, 1917, from the tax levy of that year, and one November 
1, 1918, from the tax levy of that year, at a rate of interest not exceeding five 
per cent per annum." 

At the same meeting Article 14 was passed by a vote of fifty-four to twenty- 
five, "To sell the chemical fire engine and purchase a combination auto truck, 
and raise and appropriate the sum of $5,000 therefor, as recommended by the 
board of fire engineers." 

With the purchase of the equipment ordered by these votes, Foxboro has a 
fire department able to cope with any fire that is likely to occur. An appropria- 
tion of $100 was made by the annual meeting in 1916 for a fire lookout on Moose 



152 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Hill, and during the year $300 were expended in extending and improving the 
fire alarm system. 

TRANSPORTATION 

Not many towns of its class are better provided with transportation facilities 
than Foxboro. Two lines of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad 
.system pass through the town and on these lines there are four stations. East 
Foxboro is on the main line from Boston to Providence, and Foxboro, North 
Foxboro and Foxvale are on the line running from Taunton to Marlboro and 
Fitchburg. In addition to these roads there is a division of the Norfolk & Bristol 
electric line, with a branch from Foxboro to Wrentham. 

foxboro in 1917 

According to the United States census, the population of Foxboro in 1910 
was 3,863. The state census of 1915 reported a population of 3,755. This shows 
a decrease of 108 during the five years. There has also been a slight decrease 
in the assessed valuation of the property, that for 191 5 being $3,041,740, and 
the assessment for 1916 was $2,825,210. The town has two banks, a weekly 
newspaper (the Reporter), nine public school buildings, in which twenty-four 
teachers were employed during the school year of 191 5-16, a number of manu- 
facturing establishments, churches of different denominations, hotels and mer- 
cantile houses, one of the prettiest commons in the county, and a large number of 
comfortable homes. It is one of the few towns of the state that have no 
bonded indebtedness. 

At the beginning of the year 1917 the principal town officers were as follows: 
Orlando McKenzie, Jarvis Williams and Louis W. Hodges, selectmen and over- 
seers of the poor; George R. Ellis, clerk and treasurer; Percy B. Richmond, John 
B. Hodges and Lewis Belcher, assessors ; Benjamin F. GifTord, surveyor of high- 
ways ; Franklin A. Pettee, tax collector ; Fred H. Richards, accountant ; William 
S. Kimball, Jarvis Williams and Fred N. Griffiths, board of health; Ernest A. 
White, Walter S. Keith and Richard W. Barton, engineers of the fire depart- 
ment and forest fire wardens ; Lucius A. Cady and Ernest A. White, constables ; 
John E. Warren, Miss Frances A. White and William R. Lewis, school committee. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
THE TOWN OF FRANKLIN 

LOCATION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION — THE PRECINCT — SOME POINTED INSTRUC- 
TIONS — THE TOWN INCORPORATED NAMING THE TOWN — FIRST TOWN MEET- 
ING — FRANKLIN'S PATRIOTISM — FIRST MILLS WATERWORKS — FIRE DEPART- 
MENT — POSTOFFICE — ALMSHOUSE — FINANCIAL — THE FRANKLIN OF THE 
PRESENT. 

Franklin is situated in the southwestern part of the county. It is bounded 
on the north by the Charles River, which separates it from the Town of Medway ; 
on the east by the towns of Norfolk and Wrentham ; on the south by Wren- 
tham, and on the west by Bellingham. The surface is an elevated plain, diversified 
by green meadows, sunny hills and shady valleys. From some of the highest 
points the Blue Hills of Milton, nearly twenty miles distant, can be seen, and on 
clear days the top of Mount Wachusett, in Worcester County, is clearly visible. 
Among the hills are a number of small lakes or ponds. The largest of these 
is Popolatic Pond in the northeastern part, on the line dividing Franklin from 
Norfolk, the waters of which find their way to the Charles River through Mill 
(or Stop) River. Beaver Pond and two smaller ones lie near the center of the 
town and are drained by the Mine Brook, a tributary of the Charles River. In 
the southeastern part is Uncas Pond, which derives its name from a tradition 
that the Mohegan sachem Uncas, in some of his hunting excursions or warlike 
expeditions against the Pequot Indians, was wont to encamp upon its shores. 

THE PRECINCT 

The territory now comprising the Town of Franklin was originally a part of 
Dedham. It was included in Wrentham when that town was incorporated on 
October 15, 1673, an ^ remained a part of Wrentham for more than a century. 
In June, 1736, a petition was presented to the General Court asking for the 
establishment of a precinct in the western part of Wrentham. That petition was 
signed by forty-eight resident freeholders, viz. : John Adams, Robert Blake, 
Ebenezer Clark, David Darling, John Failes, Nathaniel Fairbanks, Eleazer Fisher, 
John Fisher, Lineard (Leonard) Fisher, Nathaniel Fisher, Edward Gay, Edward 
Hall, Daniel Hawes, Josiah Hawes, Nathaniel Hawes, Ebenezer Hunting, David 
Jones, David Lawrence, David Lawrence, Jr., Ebenezer Lawrence, Daniel Mac- 
cane, Thomas Mann, Sr.. Eleazer Metcalf, Eleazer Metcalf, Jr., Michael Metcalf, 
Samuel Metcalf, Samuel Morse, James New, Ebenezer Partridge, Job Partridge, 
Samuel Partridge, Baruch Pond, David Pond, Ezra Pond, Ichabod Pond, Robert 
Pond, John Richardson, Benjamin Rockwood, Thomas Rockwood, Ebenezer 

153 



154 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Sheckelworth, Simon Slocurn, John Smith, Daniel Thurston, Eleazer Ware, Joseph 
Whiting, Michael Wilson, Uriah Wilson and Jonathan Wright. 

Owing to objections on the part of Wrentham, a delay of more than a year 
was experienced, but on December 23, 1737X Governor Belcher affixed his 
signature to the bill erecting the "Second Precinct of Wrentham." A few days 
later a warrant was issued to Robert Pond, John Adams, Daniel Hawes, David 
Jones and Daniel Thurston authorizing them to call a meeting for the election 
of officers and the organization of the precinct, ''in the house the inhabitants 
usually meet in for public worship." The meeting assembled at noon on January 
16, 1738, and after electing officers adjourned to the 20th. At the adjourned 
meeting the sum of eighty pounds was voted for preaching and a committee 
appointed to secure a preacher. Another committee was appointed to provide 
materials for a meeting house "forty feet long, thirty-one feet wide, with twenty 
feet posts, toward which each may contribute his proportion." The meeting also 
voted to send a request to Wrentham "for the fulfillment of a promise made 
them ten years before, that money paid by them, amounting to one hundred and 
thirty pounds eleven shillings, towards its meeting house should be repaid to 
them." Wrentham at first refused to grant this request, but in May reconsidered 
the matter and the money was refunded. 

The church was regularly organized on February 16, 1738, Rev. Joseph Baxter 
of Medfield acting as moderator. In November following Rev. Elias Haven was 
installed as the first pastor, but the meeting house was not completed until the 
spring of 1740. (See Church History.) 

SOME POINTED INSTRUCTIONS 

Franklin continued as the Second Precinct of Wrentham for forty-one years. 
From 1740 to 1742 the subject of applying to Wrentham for permission to 
become a town was discussed, but no definite action was taken. On March 4, 
1754, the people of the precinct presented a petition to that effect to the Wren- 
tham town meeting, where it was voted down. Then came the dissensions with 
England that culminated in the Revolution and the question was dropped for 
nearly a quarter of a century, the inhabitants going to Wrentham to participate 
in the numerous meetings called from time to time to consider the condition of 
the colonies. At one of these meetings, held on June 5, 1776, the following 
instructions were issued to Benjamin Guild, Joseph Hawes and Dr. Ebenezer, 
representatives to the General Court : 

"Gentlemen — We, your constituents in full town meeting assembled, June 
5, 1776, give you the following instructions: 

"Whereas, Tyranny and Oppression, a little more than one century and a half 
ago, obliged our forefathers to quit their peaceful habitations and seek an asylum 
in this distant land, amid an howling wilderness surrounded with savage enemies, 
destitute of almost every convenience of life was their unhappy situation, but 
such was their zeal for the common rights of mankind that they (under the 
smile of Divine Providence) surmounted every difficulty, and in a little time 
were in the exercise of civil government under a Charter of the Crown of Great 
Britain. But after some years had passed, and the Colonies had become of 
some importance, new troubles began to arise. The same spirit which caused 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 155 

them to leave their native land still pursued them, joined by designing men among 
themselves. Letters began to be wrote against the Government and the first 
Charter soon afterward destroyed. 

"In this situation some years passed before another charter could be obtained, 
and, although many of the gifts and privileges of the first charter were abridged 
by the last, yet in that situation the Government has been tolerably quiet until 
about the year 1763, since which time the same spirit of oppression has risen up. 
Letters by divers ill-minded persons have been wrote against the government (in 
consequence of which divers acts of the British Parliament made, mutilating and 
destroying the Charter, and wholly subversive of the Constitution). Fleets and 
armies have been sent to enforce them, and at length a civil war has commenced, 
and the sword is drawn in our land, and the whole United Colonies involved in 
a common cause; the repeated and humble petitions of the good people of these 
Colonies have been wantonly rejected with disdain; the Prince we once adored 
has now commissioned the instruments of his hostile oppression to lay waste 
our dwellings with fire and sword, to rob us of our property, and wantonly to 
stain the land with the blood of its innocent inhabitants ; he has entered into 
treaties with the most cruel nations to hire an army of foreign mercenaries to 
subjugate the Colonies to his cruel and arbitarary purposes. In short, all hope 
of an accommodation is entirely at an end ; a reconciliation as dangerous as it is 
absurd ; a recollection of past injuries will naturally keep alive and kindle the 
flames of jealousy. 

''We, your constituents, therefore think that to be subject to or dependent 
on the Crown of Great Britain would not only be impracticable, but unsafe to 
the State. The inhabitants of this town therefore, in full town meeting, unani- 
mously instruct and direct you (i. e. the representatives) to give your vote that, 
if the Honorable American Congress (in whom we place the highest confidence 
under God) should think it necessary for the safety of the United Colonies to 
declare them independent of Great Britain, that we, your constituents, with our 
lives and fortunes will most cheerfully support them in the measure." 

These instructions have been reproduced in full as showing the trend of public 
sentiment in "the days that tried men's souls." It is interesting to compare 
the language used by this little backwoods settlement in Massachusetts with that 
of the Declaration of Independence adopted by the Continental Congress at 
Philadelphia a month later. And the sons of Franklin backed up their declara- 
tions with their deeds. Upon the first alarm from Lexington and Concord her 
Minute-Men were prompt to respond, and from that time until the British Gen- 
eral Cornwallis handed his sword to General Lincoln on the field at Yorktown, 
October 19, 1781, they were upon the firing line in numerous engagements. 

THE TOWN INCORPORATED 

During the Revolutionary war the demand for town meetings became more 
urgent and the business to be transacted more important. Between January, 
1773, and February, 1778, no fewer than thirty-one meetings were held in Wren- 
tham. To attend these meetings, the people of Franklin had to travel from 
five to ten miles over bad roads in all kinds of weather, but their loyalty and 
sense of duty impelled them to make the frequent tiresome journeys. On 



156 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

December 29, 1777, another petition was brought before the town meeting asking 
"for liberty to be set off into a distinct township, according to grant of Court 
that they were first incorporated into a precinct," etc. Deacon Jabez Fisher, 
Jonathan Metcalf, Asa Whiting, Dr. John Metcalf, Capt. John Boyd, Joseph 
Hawes and Samuel Lethbridge, "chief men of the precinct are put in charge 
of the matter." 

Wrentham appointed a committee of nine to confer with the "chief men" 
above mentioned, and on February 21, 1778, reported in favor of the petition. 
Then followed the work of dividing the town property, etc. The quota of soldiers 
recruited for service in the Continental army were proportionately accredited to 
each section; firearms, military stores, the supply of salt allowed by the General 
Court were satisfactorily adjusted; the five paupers were also assigned — three to 
Wrentham and two to the new town — and the public revenues were duly adjusted. 
All this having been attended to, a petition was presented to the General Court, 
which resulted in the enactment of the following bill : 

"STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 

"In the Year of our Lord, 1778. 

"An Act incorporating the Westerly Part of the Town of Wrentham, in the 
County of Suffolk, into a Town by the name of Franklin. 

"Whereas, the Inhabitants of the Westerly part of the Town of Wrentham 
in the County of Suffolk have Represented to this Court the Difficulties they 
Labor under in their present situation, and apprehending themselves of sufficient 
Numbers & Ability, request that they may be Incorporated into a separate Town. 

"Be it Therefore Enacted by the Council & House of Representatives in Gen- 
eral Court Assembled, & by the Authority of the same, That the Westerly part 
of said Town of Wrentham separated by a line, as follows, viz : Beginning at 
Charles River, where Medfield line comes to said river ; thence running south 
seventeen degrees and a half West until it comes to one rod east of ye Dwelling 
House of William Man ; thence a strait line to the eastwardly corner of Asa 
Whiting's barn ; thence a strait line to sixty rods due south of the old cellar 
where the Dwelling House of Ebenezer Healy formerly stood ; thence a Due 
West cource by the Needle to Bellingham line, said Bellingham line to be the 
West Bounds and Charles River the Northerly Bounds, be and hereby is incor- 
porated into a Distinct and Separate Toen by the name of franklin, and invested 
with all the powers, Privileges and Immunities that Towns in this State do or 
may enjoy. 

"And be it further enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, That the inhabitants 
of the Town of Franklin shall pay their proportion of all State, County and Town 
charges already granted to be raised in the Town of Wrentham and also their 
proportion of the pay of the Representatives for the present year. And the said 
Town of Wrentham and Town of Franklin shall be severally held punctually to 
stand by & perform to each other the Terms & Proposals Contained and Expressed 
in a vote of the Town of Wrentham passed at a Publick Town Meeting the 
sixteenth day of February, 1778, according to ye plain and obvious meaning 
thereof. 

"And Be it also Enacted by ye Authority aforesaid, That Jabez Fisher, 
Esq., Be & he hereby is Authorized & Required to issue his warrant to one of 




RESIDENCE OF H. T. HAYWARD. FRANKLIN 




RESIDENCE OF A. \V. PIERCE, FRANKLIN 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 157 

the Principal Inhabitants of said Town of Franklin, authorizing & requiring 
him to Xotifie & warn the Freeholders & other Inhabitants of said Town to 
meet together at such time and place as shall be Expressed in said warrant, To 
choose such officers as Towns are authorized by Law to Choose, and Transact 
other such Lawfull matters as shall be expressed in said Warrant. 

"And be it further Enacted, That the Inhabitants living within ye Bounds 
aforesaid who on the Late Tax in the Town of Wrentham were rated one-half 
part so much for their Estates and Faculties as for one single Poll shall be taken 
& Holden to be Qualified and be allowed to Vote in their first Meeting for the 
Choice of officers & such other meetings as may be Called in said Town of 
Franklin until a Valuation of Estates shall be made by Assessors there. 

"in the house of representatives. 

"February 27, 1778. 
"This Bill having been read three several times, passed to be engrossed. 
Sent up for Concurrence. 

"j. WARREN SYKE. 

"in council. 
"March 2, 1778. 

"This bill, having had two several readings, passed a Concurrence, to be 
engrossed. 

"john avery, Dpy. Secy." 

NAMING THE TOWN 

Mortimer Blake gives the following account of the manner in which the name 
of Franklin was selected for the town: "In the original draft of the charter, 
as preserved in the State Archives, the name of the new town is written as 
'Exeter.' Why its name was first written Exeter is a conundrum, whose answer 
is inaudible among the echoes of the past. Why it was changed to Franklin is 
apparent. After the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Benjamin Franklin 
with two others was sent forthwith to France to arrange for a treaty of alliance 
with Louis XVI. The king dallied with the ambassadors until the close of 1777, 
when the capture of Burgoyne settled his doubts, and a treaty of amity and com- 
merce was formed with them in January, 1778. News of their success reached 
this country while the petition of the new town was waiting decision. The charter 
was doubtless amended in honor of that event and 'Exeter' was changed for 
the honored name of 'Franklin,' the first of twenty-nine towns in our states who 
have since followed her example in calling themselves by the same name." 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

Shortly after the act of incorporation was passed by the General Court, Jabez 
Fisher, a justice of the peace, issued his warrant for a town meeting to be held 
in the new town on Monday, March 23, 1778. At that meeting the only business 
transacted was the election of town officers and the choice of a "Committee of 
Correspondence," to look after military matters. Jonathan Metcalf, Samuel Leth- 
bridge. Joseph Hawes, Asa Whiting and Hezekiah Fisher were elected as the 



158 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

first board of selectmen; Asa Pond, town clerk; Asa Whiting, treasurer; and 
Joseph Hawes, representative to the General Court. The "Committee of Corre- 
spondence" was composed of Capt. John Boyd, Lieut. Ebenezer Dean, Capt. 
Thomas Bacon and Daniel Thurston. 

franklin's patriotism 

It must be remembered that Franklin was born in the midst of the Revolu- 
tionary war, when every man was expected to be for or against the cause of the 
American colonies. There were no neutrals. The committee on correspondence 
looked sharply after the enemies in their midst and a town meeting voted that all 
tories should be reported to the proper court. Every demand for men or money 
on the Town of Franklin was promptly met. A town meeting directed that 
"soldiers' families shall be supplied with the necessaries of life at a stipulated 
price at the town's expense," and voted not to deal with any persons whose scale 
of prices did not conform to that recommended by the Concord convention of 
1779. Within eighteen months the town furnished its proportion of beef to the 
Continental army — 33,908 pounds — almost robbing the town of its cattle. When 
the credit of the new Government of the United States hung in the balance, 
Franklin recommended all who had money to lend "to avoid lending it to monopo- 
lizers, jobbers, harpies, forestallers and tories, with as much caution as they 
would avoid a pestilence, and lend it to the Continental and State treasuries." 
It was patriotism of this type that made the American Republic possible and 
placed it upon a sound financial basis. 

FIRST MILL 

The first mill for grinding corn for the early settlers was built near the foot 
of Eagle Hill by John Whiting in 1685, nearly one hundred years before the 
Town of Franklin was incorporated. That mill was owned by members of the 
Whiting family for over a century. The first boards used in the construction 
of dwellings were split in the form of "puncheons" or sawed with a whip-saw. 
In 1713 the settlers in the North Precinct of Wrentham, anxious for a mill 
nearer to them, induced Daniel Hawes, Eleazer Metcalf, Robert Pond, John 
Maccane and Samuel Metcalf to build a saw-mill at the falls of Mine Brook. 
The contract, or articles of association, signed by these men is here reproduced 
as a literary curiosity: "Wrentham, Feb. the 7. 1713. 

"We hose names are hereunto subscrib' 1 doe agree to build a Saw Mill at 
the place called the Minebrook : Daniel Hawes wone quarter John Maccane 
wone quarter Eleazar Metcalf and Samuel Metcalf wone quarter & Robert Pond 
Sen wone quarter. We doe covenant & agree as follows : 

"1 We doe promis that we wil each of us carry on & doe our equal pro- 
porchon Throught in procureing of irones & Hueing framing of a dam & mill & 
all other labour throught so faire as the major part shall see meat to doe then to 
com to a reckoning: 

"2 We doe agre that all of us shall hav liberty for to work out his propor- 
sion of work & in case aney wone of us neglect to carry on sayd Work till it be 
done & fit to saw & he that neglects to carry on his part of sayd mill shall pay 
half a crown a day to the rest of ye owners that did says Work: 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 159 

"3 We doe allsoe agre that sayd Land shall bee for a mill pond soe long 
as the major part shall se fit. We doe Allsoe agre that no wone shall sell his part 
of sayd mill till he has first made a Tender to ye rest of ye Owners We doe 
allsoe agre that no wone shall sell his part in ye land till he has tenderd it to 
the rest of ye Owners. 

"eleasar metcalf 
"robart pond 
"john maccane 
"daniel haws 
"samuel metcalf." 

The contract was "signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of Ezra Pond, 
Robert Pond, Jr., and Jonathan Wright," and notwithstanding its peculiar phrase- 
ology and great number of misspelled words, it seems to have answered the 
purpose just as well as a more elaborate document, drawn up and attested by 
a notary, would have done. On March 7, 1717, the following supplementary 
agreement was indorsed on the back of the original : 

"We doe agree to lay out each man's loot as they are drawn the first loot is 
to be gin four foot from the upper sil of the streak sil & soe up unto the ind of 
the sleapers & to devide it equal into four loots & from the sleapers towards the 
road so as not to interupt the road." 

This was signed by the five original projectors of the mill and Daniel Thurs- 
ton, who it appears had in the meantime been taken into partnership. Subse- 
quently the mill and all its appurtenances passed into the hands of the Whitings, 
who continued to operate it for many years. Many of the early buildings in 
Franklin were constructed of lumber sawed at the Mine Brook Mill. 

WATERWORKS 

In 1876 the town employed Percy M. Blake to make a survey with a view 
of establishing a system of waterworks to supply the inhabitants with water for 
domestic purposes and as a protection against loss by fire. Mr. Blake made his 
report, but no action was taken until the town meeting in March, 1883. Then 
Joseph G. Ray, Asa A. Fletcher and William E. Nason were appointed a com- 
mittee "to ascertain the cost and all other necessary information relative to the 
introduction of a water supply." While this committee was making its investi- 
gations, the Legislature on May 16, 1883, passed an act incorporating the Franklin 
Water Company and authorizing it "to issue bonds to the amount of $75,000, 
payable in thirty years, and to take water from Beaver Pond." Among the 
incorporators of the company were James P. Ray, George W. Wiggin, Rev. Wil- 
liam M. Thayer, James M. Freeman, Homer V. Snow and Henry R. Jenks. 

In 1906 the works constructed by this company were taken over by the town 
and bonds issued to pay for the plant. At the close of the year 1916 the amount 
of these water bonds outstanding was $218,000. The water commissioners, in 
their report for 1916, give the number of gallons pumped during the year as 
120,384,469. The supply is taken from both open and driven wells. There are 
145 public and 24 private hydrants and about eleven hundred customers. 



160 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

Previous to the establishment of the waterworks, the Franklin Fire Depart- 
ment consisted of only two hand engines of rather antiquated pattern with the 
completion of the waterworks and the purchase of a supply of hose, the depart- 
ment was greatly improved. In their last annual report the water commissioners 
said : "The town now has about as good a Fire Department as it is possible 
to get from call firemen, yet in order to make it more efficient hydrants should 
be established in several places where property is not well protected. Under 
the policy your commissioners adopted several years ago, to ask no appropriation 
from the town, except hydrant rentals, same as were paid to the Franklin Water 
Company, we have had no funds to extend the mains in all the streets where it 
might be useful for fire protection, but will extend and improve the system 
as our funds allow." 

At the close of the year 1916 the equipment of the department consisted of 
one steam fire engine, two motor combination trucks, one hook and ladder com- 
pany, and three hose companies. During that year the department answered 
fifty-two calls, in which the value of property involved was $149,500 and the loss 
was $17,040. Ernest L. Metcalf was then chief of the department. The engine 
company, known as "Ray Engine No. 3," received a gift of a high-powered 
searchlight, which was presented by Charles N. Barnard. 

POSTOFFICE 

In the early years of the Nineteenth Century mail for the inhabitants of Frank- 
lin was left at the Wrentham office by the carriers on the mail route between 
Providence and Boston, who made their trips three times a week. About 1812 
some of the people of Franklin made up a fund and hired Herman C. Fisher, 
then a boy of fifteen, to go to the Wrentham office every Saturday and bring 
the mail. This arrangement continued until 1819, when Eli Richardson built the 
stone store at City Mills (now in the Town of Norfolk) and succeeded in having 
a postoffice established there. This brought mail facilities a little nearer to 
Franklin, where Mr. Richardson attended church, and every Sunday morning 
he would take the Franklin mail, which was left at the store of Davis Thayer, 
to be distributed Monday. 

Such a system was not satisfactory, and in 182 1 a movement was started 
to secure a postoffice at "Franklin Centre." It was successful and the office was 
setablished in 1822, with Maj. Davis Thayer as postmaster. The postmasters 
since that time have been as follows : Spencer Pratt, Theron C. Hills, David 
P. Baker, Cyrus B. Snow, Charles W. Stewart, David P. Baker, Smith Fisher, 
J. A. Woodward, Oliver H. Ingalls, James M. Freeman, Henry A. Talbot, 
Matthew F. Conroy, Henry A. Talbot. Mr. Talbot died on January 1, 1903, 
and Miss Catherine L. Healy, the present assistant postmaster, served as acting 
postmaster until the appointment of E. B. Sherman, who was succeeded soon 
after President Wilson's inauguration by B. F. Callahan. 

On July 1, 1898, the office was given authority to issue international money 
orders, and on July 1, 1901, it was made a second class office. Rural free delivery 
was established at that time and some of the country postoffices in the vicinity 




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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 161 

were discontinued. On March i, 1902, the town appropriated $400 to pay for 
numbering the houses for the purpose of free local delivery, which was intro- 
duced on the first of September following. At the close of the fiscal year on 
June 30, 1917, the office reported annual receipts of about eighteen thousand 
dollars, and that a total of twelve people were employed. 

ALMSHOUSE 

For more than half a century after Franklin was incorporated, little cost 
was imposed upon the people in caring for the poor. The selectmen looked 
after the few paupers, furnishing them with provisions, the town making an 
appropriation for clothing and medical attendance. In 1835 the annual town 
meeting voted to purchase the farm and dwelling house of Alpheus Adams for 
an almshouse, at a price of $3,000, which sum was appropriated for the pur- 
pose. The house was destroyed by fire in 1868, but a new one was soon 
afterward built a short distance east. This property is now known as the "Town 
Farm" and is valued at $7,000. 

FINANCIAL 

In their report for the year 1916, the assessors announced the total valuation 
of the property in the town as having been fixed at $5,835,812.50. The value of 
property belonging to the town as a corporation on April 1, 1916, was as follows: 

School Buildings $125,000 

Grand Army Hall 2,000 

Town Hall 2,500 

Public Parks 6,000 

Fire Buildings and Apparatus 15,000 

Town Farm 7,000 

Sewer Beds and Buildings 7,000 

Waterworks 200,000 

Lucretia Pond Fund 1 ,000 

Total $365,500 

These values, as fixed by the board of assessors, are considered by local finan- 
ciers as conservative. At the same time the town treasurer reported the town's 
liabilities to be as shown in the following table : 

Water Bonds $218,000.00 

School Bonds 22,000.00 

Sewer Bonds 157,000.00 

Sewer Notes 8,000.00 

Sewer Bond Fund 47,105.87 

All other evidences of indebtedness 16,332. 69 

Total Debt $468,438.56 

Thus it will be seen that the corporate property of the town is equal in value 
to more than 75 per cent of the public debt. The principal expenditures for 
the year 1916 were as follows: 

Vol. I— 11 



162 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Schools $41,616.12 

Waterworks 28,728.31 

Streets and Highways 21,557.85 

Sewer System 10,914.51 

Government, Salaries, etc 8,190.11 

Interest on Bonds 17,667.78 

Fire Department 3,623.00 

Police 3>3!0-50 

Of the fund expended on the waterworks, $20,495.98 was received from the 
sale of water, and in the poor account $1,731.59 came from the sale of produce 
from the town farm and $1,216.82 from other towns. 

THE FRANKLIN OF THE PRESENT 

In 1910 the United States census gave Franklin a population of 5,641, and 
the state census of 191 5 reported it to be 6,440, a gain of 799 in five years. 
Franklin is established upon the firm business basis of a number of substantial 
manufacturing concerns, which produce cotton and woolen goods, felt and straw 
hats, shoddy, rubber goods, pianos, knit goods, carriages, etc. There are two 
banks, a semi-weekly newspaper (the Sentinel), steam and electric railway lines 
that afford ample transportation facilities, churches of various denominations, a 
fine public library, hotels, mercantile establishments, and many handsome resi- 
dences. Social life is well represented by a thriving country club and a Young 
Men's Christian Association. The Dean Academy, one of the best known educa- 
tional institutions in Eastern Massachusetts, is located here. Unionville and 
Wadsworth, the only postoffices in the town outside of Franklin Village, are 
thriving business centers. 

The principal town officers at the beginning of the year 1917 were: Fred 
E. Mason, Jacob F. Geb and Palmer A. Woodward, selectmen; Michael J. Cos- 
tello, clerk ; Albert H. Martin, treasurer and tax collector ; Lawrence J. Kelley, 
Ernest L. Metcalf and Edward L. Cook, assessors; George A. Allen, David 
W. Corson and George E. Emerson, overseers of the poor; Walter E. Morse, 
auditor ; Bradley M. Rockwood, Fred P. Chapman and Harry T. Hayward, 
water and sewer commissioners; James R. Hosford, William Hodge and George- 
W. Wiggin, school committee. 



CHAPTER XIX 
THE TOWN OF HOLBROOK 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION — POLITICAL HISTORY — RANDOLPH OPPOSED TO THE ORGANI- 
ZATION OF A NEW TOWN* — THE ORGANIC ACT — EARLY TOWN MEETINGS — TOWN 

HALL — HOW THE TOWN WAS NAMED THE TOWN SEAL — WATERWORKS FIRE 

DEPARTMENT — SOLDIERS' MONUMENT — HOLBROOK TODAY — TOWN OFFICERS. 

Holbrook is one of the small towns of Norfolk County. It is situated in the 
southeastern part and is bounded on the north by Braintree; on the east by Wey- 
mouth ; on the south by Plymouth County ; and on the west by the towns of Ran- 
dolph and Avon. The Cochato River forms the boundary line between Holbrook 
and Randolph and there are a few small streams in the town, part of which are 
tributary to the Cochato and the others flow southwardly into Plymouth County. 
The general surface of the town is undulating, though the hills here are not so 
well defined as in some other sections of the county. 

POLITICAL HISTORY 

Holbrook was originally a part of Braintree. When the Town of Randolph was 
set off from Braintree on March 9, 1793, it included the present Town of Hol- 
brook, which remained a part of Randolph for nearly eighty years. The early 
history of the town is therefore embraced in the chapters on Braintree and Ran- 
dolph. For many years the people living east of the Old Colony (now the New 
York, New Haven & Hartford) Railroad discussed in a desultory sort of way the 
advisability of dividing Randolph and establishing a new town east of the railroad 
or the Cochato River. Two meetings to consider this subject were held in Janu- 
ary, 1867, but there was such a diversity of opinion that the matter was dropped 
for the time being. One thing, however, was demonstrated, and that was that the 
majority of the citizens of East Randolph, as that portion of the town was called, 
were in favor of the erection of a new town, the lack of unanimity occurring 
mainly on matters of minor detail. 

Early in the fall of 1871 those who most earnestly desired the separation of 
Randolph and the establishment of a new town, began work in earnest. Their 
efforts culminated in a citizens' meeting, which was largely attended, on Tuesday 
evening, December 5, 1871. L. S. Whitcomb was called to the chair and E. F. 
Lincoln was elected secretary. As soon as the meeting was organized by the elec- 
tion of these officers, Frank W. Lewis offered the following: "Resolved, That it 
is the sense of this meeting that it is expedient that the portion of Randolph lying 
east of the Old Colony & Newport Railroad be set off from the main town and 
incorporated as a new town." 

163 



164 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

After some discussion the resolution was adopted with only one dissenting vote. 
The next day a petition, signed by Elisha N. Holbrook and thirteen other residents 
of the territory it was proposed to include in the new town, was filed in the office 
of the secretary of state, and on the 8th a copy of the petition was served upon 
the Town of Randolph by a deputy sheriff. Another meeting was held on Satur- 
day evening, December 9, 1871, at which Elisha N. Hoibrook offered to give to 
the new town, in the event of its incorporation, the sum of $50,000, of which 
$25,000 should be used for the purpose of erecting a town hall and establishing a 
public library, and the remainder for the payment of the town debt which it might 
be necessary to assume if set off from Randolph. 

Randolph's opposition 

At the meeting of December 9, 1 871, it was voted that the Legislature be peti- 
tioned to establish a new town, to be called Holbrook, and that E. W. Morton of 
Boston be engaged to look after the interests, as counsel, of the advocates of 
division. The petition was presented in the state senate early in January, 1872, 
by Senator Carpenter of Foxboro. Up to this time the people of the western por- 
tion of Randolph had not given serious thought to the project. Now they began 
to bestir themselves. A meeting was held in Stetson Hall on January 18, 1872, 
"to take action on the petition of E. N. Holbrook and others." At that meeting 
it was voted to appoint a committee to oppose the division of the town, and to 
instruct the representative in the Legislature, Ludovicus F. Wild of East Randolph, 
"to carry out the expressed wish of the town, or resign." Many citizens of the 
eastern part of the town were present at the meeting and voiced their protest, but 
they were outvoted, as had often occurred before. Hearings before the Legislative 
committee on towns began on the 24th of January, Mr. Morton appearing in behalf 
of the petitioners, and B. W. Harris for the remonstrants. Before the hearings 
were concluded Elisha N. Holbrook died on February 5, 1872. 

Mr. Holbrooks' death cast a gloom over the people of East Randolph, but they 
went on with the fight. On February 8, 1872, the senate committee reported a bill 
for the incorporation of the Town of Holbrook, which was finally passed by that 
body on the 13th, by a vote of twenty-five to ten. Then began the contest in the 
house, where the most serious opposition was encountered. After hearing both 
petitioners and remonstrants in the committee rooms, the bill was reported for 
passage, though both sides were indefatigable in trying to secure enough votes to 
enact or defeat the bill, as the case might be. On the 19th, after being debated for 
the greater part of two days, the bill passed its first reading by a vote of 113 to 91. 
The bill was finally passed and was approved on February 29, 1872, by the 
governor. 

THE ORGANIC ACT 

Following is a copy of the more important sections of the act of incorporation: 

"Section 1. All the territory now within the town of Randolph, in the County 

of Norfolk, comprised within the following limits, that is to say : Beginning at 

the stone monument in the line between said Randolph and the Town of Braintree, 

on the easterly side of Tumbling Brook; thence taking a southwesterly course in 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 165 

a straight line to a point six feet westerly from the northwesterly corner in range 
of the northerly side of the so-called East Randolph station-house of the Old 
Colony & Newport Railroad Company ; thence the same or other southwesterly 
course to a point on the town line dividing Randolph and Stoughton, one hundred 
and fourteen rods southeasterly from the town stone monument in said last- 
mentioned dividing line, at the southerly terminus of Main Street in said Randolph ; 
thence southeasterly, northeasterly, northerly and westerly as the present dividing 
line between said Randolph and Stoughton, North Bridgewater, Abington, Wey- 
mouth and Braintree runs, to the first-mentioned bound, is hereby incorporated 
into a town by the name of Holbrook ; and said Town of Holbrook is hereby 
invested with all the powers, privileges, rights and immunities, and is subject to 
all the duties and requisitions to which other towns are entitled and subjected by 
the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth. 

"Section 2. The inhabitants of said Town of Holbrook shall be holden to pay 
all arrears of taxes which have been legally assessed upon them by the Town of 
Randolph, and all taxes heretofore assessed and not collected shall be collected and 
paid to the treasurer of the Town of Randolph in the same manner as if this act 
had not been passed ; and also their proportion of all County and State taxes that 
may be assessed upon them previously to the taking of the next State valuation, 
said proportion to be ascertained and determined by the last valuation in the said 
Randolph. 

"Section 3. Said towns of Randolph and Holbrook shall be respectively liable 
for the support of all persons who now do or shall hereafter stand in need of 
relief as paupers, whose settlement was gained by or derived from a settlement 
gained or derived within their respective limits ; and the Town of Holbrook shall 
also pay annually to the Town of Randolph one-third part of all costs of the sup- 
port or relief of those persons who now do or shall hereafter stand in need of 
relief of support as paupers, and have gained a settlement in said Town of Ran- 
dolph in consequence of the military services of themselves or those through whom 
they derive their settlement. 

"Section 4. The corporate property belonging to the Town of Randolph at the 
date of this act, and the public debt of the said town existing at said date, shall be 
divided between the towns of Randolph and Holbrook according to the valuation 
of the property within their respective limits as assessed May 1, 1871 ; and said 
Town of Holbrook shall receive from said Town of Randolph a proportionate part 
of whatever amount may hereafter be refunded to the Town of Randolph from 
the State or United States to reimburse said Town of Randolph for bounties to 
soldiers, or State aid paid to soldiers' families after deducting all reasonable 
expenses ; and said Town of Holbrook shall bear the expense of making the survey 
and establishing the line between said towns of Randolph and Holbrook." 

EARLY TOWN MEETINGS 

The first town meeting in Holbrook was held in the East Parish meeting house 
on March 11, 1872. Lemuel S. Whitcomb was chosen moderator, after which the 
meeting proceeded to the election of town officers, with the following result : John 
Adams, E. W. Thayer and Lemuel S. Whitcomb, selectmen, assessors and over- 
seers of the poor ; Frank W. Lewis, clerk and treasurer ; Jacob Whitcomb, collector 



166 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

of taxes ; Ludovicus Wild, Newton White and Nathaniel E. Hobart, auditors ; 
Hiram Belcher, Thomas West and Royal Thayer, fence viewers; Samuel L. White, 
S. R. Hodge and Z. P. Jordan, constables ; Warren Thayer, sealer of weights and 
measures ; Edward Belcher and Samuel D. Chase, engineers of the fire depart- 
ment ; Frank W. Lewis, Barton Howard and Charles H. Paine, school committee. 
One of the early business transactions to come before the Holbrook town meet- 
ings for consideration was the adjustment of the town's proportion of the Ran- 
dolph debt, in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of the act of incorpo- 
ration. After the subject had been discussed in several town meetings, an arrange- 
ment was made with Randolph by which the selectmen of the two towns were 
appointed to adjust the indebtedness and divide the town property. The joint 
committee met several times and finally presented to the citizens of the two towns 
for their approval a report of the manner in which the town property had been 
divided and an itemized statement of the public debt. The documents were signed 
by all the selectmen and the one relating to the division of the debt bore the follow- 
ing indorsement: "Randolph, March 19, 1873. It is hereby agreed and certified 
that there has been paid by the Town of Holbrook to the Town of Randolph the 
balance of indebtedness as within stated, amounting to $14,988.94, with interest 
on the same from February 1 to March 1, 1873, °f $74-94. making $15,063.88." 
This sum was paid out of the fund left by Elisha N. Holbrook. 

TOWN HALL 

In 1873 tne town erected a town hall on Franklin Street, just south of Linfield, 
adjoining the Winthrop Church. It was a frame building, with brick basement, 
forty-eight by ninety feet in dimensions, and two stories high. On the main floor 
at the rear were provided quarters for the public library. Early on Christmas 
morning in 1877, fire broke out in the building and both it and the church were 
totally destroyed. 

Immediately after the fire, the citizens took the preliminary steps for the erec- 
tion of a new town hall, which was completed and dedicated on March 26, 1879. 
It is a brick edifice, the main portion of which is fifty-three by one hundred feet, 
with forty-four feet wings on either side. On the main floor are two rooms used 
for mercantile purposes,, rooms for the town officers and quarters for the public 
library. The main hall on the second floor is fifty by ninety feet. A stone tablet 
in the front wall of the building bears the inscription : 

Holbrook Town Hall 

Erected 1878 

The Gift of 

E. N. Holbrook. 

On the last day of February, 1898, the town hall was again seriously damaged 
by fire, but was immediately repaired, a few changes being made in the original 
design. The building was once more brought into use on June 11, 1898. 

About half past five o'clock on the morning of March 2, 1916, fire was dis- 
covered in the town hall. A general alarm was sounded, the fire department and 
many of the citizens promptly responded and the building was saved without 
serious damage. The cause of the fire was defective electric wiring. As the struc- 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 167 

ture had to be repaired, the town took advantage of the occasion to make a number 
of changes and altogether the sum of $11,138.89 was expended in the repairs and 
alterations, giving Holbrook a town house that is modern in every respect and 
ample for the needs of the town for years to come. 

HOW THE TOWN WAS NAMED 

A. E. Sproul, writing in 1884, concerning the manner in which the town received 
its name, says : "The idea which still remains current to a considerable extent, 
particularly outside the borders of the present town, that Mr. Holbrook made his 
munificent gift conditional upon the proposed town being named for him, deserves 
emphatic contradiction at the hands of the present writer, based upon the most 
reliable contemporary testimony. At the meeting where the generous proposal 
was made, the citizens assembled at once brought forward the name 'Holbrook' 
for the new town, and it received almost unanimous approval by the townspeople. 
The name was adopted not so much in honor of any one man as in recognition of 
a family of old residents, who had become wealthy in the prosecution of legiti- 
mate business, and who had always shown themselves enterprising and public 
spirited, and alive to the interests of the community with which they were for so 
many years identified. At the meeting of December 9th, therefore, it was imme- 
diately voted that the Legislature be petitioned to name the new town Holbrook, 
if incorporated, and three cheers were given for the name, and three more and a 
vote of thanks for Mr. Holbrook." 

THE TOWN SEAL 

The corporate seal of Holbrook, which was adopted soon after the town gov- 
ernment was organized, is of neat and appropriate design. In the center of a 
circular field is a shield bearing a portrait of Elisha N. Holbrook, and above the 
portrait are the words "Cochato, 1634." To the right of the shield are a plow 
and scythe, and to the left an anvil and hammer, typifying the agricultural and 
manufacturing interests of the town. Above the shield is an arm brandishing a 
drawn sword, signifying that Holbrook can be relied on to do her part in war as 
well as in peace. In the upper left of the circular field is the legend: "Braintree — 
1640" and in the upper right, "Randolph — T 793." showing Holbrook's civic connec- 
tions before it was organized as a separate town. In a circle around the margin 
of the seal is the inscription : "Town of Holbrook, Mass., Incorporated 1872." 

WATERWORKS 

By the act of May 8, 1885, the towns of Braintree, Randolph and Holbrook 
were severally or jointly authorized to supply themselves with water from Great 
Pond, to construct buildings, lay pipes, etc., and for the construction of such 
waterworks, buildings and pipes, each town was authorized to issue bonds in any 
sum not exceeding $100,000. The act was to become effective when it was 
accepted by a two-thirds vote of any or all the towns. 

Braintree made other arrangements about a water supply, but the towns of 
Holbrook and Randolph accepted the provisions of the act and jointly constructed 



168 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

a system of waterworks to supply the citizens with water for domestic purposes 
and provide better protection against loss by fire. Subsequently Holbrook was 
authorized to issue additional bonds to the amount of $35,000 to complete her 
portion of the works. A pumping station was built at Great Pond and standpipes 
erected in each of the towns, and the water was turned into the mains in the 
summer of 1886. (See also the chapter on Randolph.) 

During the year 1916 the board of water commissioners laid 6,122 feet of new 
main, most of it of six inch pipe. In his report of the condition of the works, 
Herbert S. Child, the town auditor, says : "The receipts of this year show a marked 
increase over last year, the uncollected accounts are about $600.00 more and the 
surplus of revenue is $2,129.56. These figures certainly prove that the year 19 16 
was a prosperous year, which is due to the able and efficient management of the 
commissioners." 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

Holbrook has two fire stations — one adjoining the town hall and the other at 
Brookville, in the southern part of the town. Each station is equipped with hook 
and ladder truck and hose wagon, and the hydrant service of the waterworks is 
extended to all parts of the town. According to the report of the board of engi- 
neers for the year 1916, the expense of maintaining the department was $1,863.57, 
and twenty-two calls were answered, two of which were false alarms. The mem- 
bers of the department receive pay only for the time actually employed at fires, 
or in work connected with the department. 

soldiers' monument 

Holbrook had no corporate existence at the time of the Civil war, being then a 
part of Randolph. However, a number of men living within the borders of the 
present town enlisted in some of the Massachusetts volunteer regiments and served 
their country throughout the war. At the annual town meeting on March 1, 1916, 
a communication was received from E. E. Holbrook offering to pay one half the 
cost of a soldiers' monument, to commemorate the valor of those who sacrificed 
their lives in defense of the Union. The meeting extended a vote of thanks to Mr. 
Holbrook for his generous offer and referred the matter to a committee composed 
of the following citizens : Charles E. Brown, W. B. Emery, George E. Kent, John 
King, Charles S. Ludden, Patrick A. Mack, Charles H. McCarter, Arthur W. 
Paine and E. N. Thayer. 

At a special meeting on October 11, 1916, the committee reported in favor of 
erecting a monument, the cost of which should not exceed three thousand dollars, 
to be located in the park near the town hall, and that Mr. Holbrook would con- 
tribute $1,500 of the amount. The meeting then voted to appropriate $1,500, to 
be taken from the tax levy of 191 7, and that Louis E. Flye, Philip H. Fraher, J. F. 
Megley, John W. Porter, H. H. Sampson and Ellis A. White be added to the 
committee, which should have full charge of the fund and the construction of the 
monument. The design selected was that of Thomas Carrigg & Son of Holbrook. 
It consists of a pedestal of Westerly granite, upon which is the figure of an infan- 
try soldier in bronze, seven feet high, marching with his musket at a "right 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 169 

shoulder shift." Upon the front of the pedestal in neat raised letters is the inscrip- 
tion : "This memorial is erected to honor those who offered their lives to gain and 
preserve the liberty of this nation." The monument was dedicated on May 30, 1917. 

HOLBROOK TODAY 

Holbrook is what might be termed an average town. In 1915 eleven of the 
twenty-eight towns in Norfolk County reported a smaller population, and seven 
showed a lower valuation of property. The population at that time was 2,948, a 
gain over the United States census of 1910 of 132, and the valuation of property 
was $1,990,337. The Boston & Middleboro division of the New York, New Haven 
& Hartford Railroad passes through the town, and the transportation facilities 
are augmented by the electric line that runs from Quincy to Brockton. Holbrook 
has six public school buildings, churches of different denominations, some of the 
fraternal organizations are represented by lodges, there is a good public library, 
the streets are well kept and lighted by electricity, parks and playgrounds have 
been provided for recreation and the accommodation of the children, and there are 
postoffices at Holbrook and Brookville. Formerly there were several shoe fac- 
tories in the town, but only one concern of this character remains, the others having 
either been discontinued or removed to other locations. 

Following is a list of the principal town officers at the beginning of the year 
1917: George W. Porter, John King and Ira W. Paine, selectmen and overseers 
of the poor; Zenas A. French, clerk; Eugene Snell, treasurer; Frank W. Hol- 
brook, tax collector ; George W. Porter, Charles H. McCarter and A. C. Belcher, 
assessors ; Frank L. Hayden, W. F. Bourbeau and Arthur W. Paine, water' com- 
missioners ; Philip H. Fraher, George E. White and James A. Windle, park com- 
missioners ; Melvin Coulter, Ellis A. White and George A. Nason, fire engineers ; 
Herbert S. Child, auditor; S. B. Field, Frank T. White and Mrs. Sibyl Niles, 
school committee. 



CHAPTER XX 
THE TOWN OF MEDFIELD 

IN THE BEGINNING — AS A PART OF DEDHAM — NEW TOWN FIRST PROPOSED PETI- 
TION TO GENERAL COURT — THE RESULT — OTHER TERRITORY SET ASIDE — THE 
NAME — AGREEMENT AND COMMITTEE — FIRST HOUSE LOTS — FURTHER SETTLE- 
MENTS — SURRENDER OF JURISDICTION — INCORPORATION — A DISCREPANCY IN 

DATES — FIRST YEARS OF EXISTENCE — DIVISION OF THE TOWN DIVISION OF 

COUNTY — POPULATION — POSTOFFICE THE TOWN HALL — PROMINENT EARLY 

CITIZENS — PUBLIC LIBRARY — PUBLIC UTILITIES — FIRST VITAL STATISTICS — FIRST 
VALUATIONS — MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST. 

The town of Medfield is located in the western portion of Norfolk County, 
Massachusetts. The town is of irregular form and is bounded as follows : on the 
north by the town of Dover; on the east by a portion of Dover and Walpole; on 
the south by Walpole and Norfolk ; and on the west by the Charles River which 
separates Medfield from Millis and Middlesex County. The Charles River on 
the west is, of course, the most important stream of this town, with Stop River as 
a tributary flowing through the central and southern parts of the county. 

IN THE BEGINNING 

Although much detail concerning the Indian history of this territory is given 
in the chapter devoted to that subject, something of it must necessarily be given 
as an introduction to the settlement and organization of the town of Medfield. 
All the region to the southwest of Boston was occupied by several Indian tribes, 
among them the Natick, the Neponset and the Nipmuck ; the whole organization of 
Indian tribes in this section of the country bore the general name of Massachusett. 
They were at first friendly with the white men, but after the English had accorded 
them harsh treatment at different times, their friendship changed to open hostility. 

The territory south and east of the Charles River was included in the domain 
of the Neponset. The sachem of this tribe, Chickatabot, was friendly with the 
English from the beginning, frequently making treaties with both the Plymouth 
and Bay colonies. About the year 1632 William Pynchon of Boston, afterwards 
of Springfield, purchased from Chickatabot all of the territory lying between the 
Charles River and the Neponset River. This land embraced what is now the town 
of Medfield, as well as several other Norfolk County towns as far south as the 
Rhode Island line. The boundaries of this purchase were very poorly defined 
at the time of the purchase, consequently in after years trouble arose between the 
Indians and whites over the exact boundary lines, particularly that of the south. 
In 1635 the colonial government asked for persons who were present at the time 

170 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 171 

of the purchase and could place the boundary lines as they were laid down. How- 
ever, no one came forward with the information. Many of the Indians, including 
Chickatabot himself, had been stricken with death by the smallpox scourge of 
1633 and there were few left to respond. 

AS A PART OF DEDHAM 

The Town of Dedham was incorporated in 1636 and included "all the lands 
on the easterly and southerly side of Charles River not formerly granted to any 
town or particular person." Roxbury had been set off from the Pynchon pur- 
chase prior to this time, so Dedham, when formed, comprised all the remainder 
of the territory included in that purchase, including that now in Medfield. Med- 
field remained a part of Dedham for a period of fourteen or fifteen years. 

The land now within the Town of Medfield was little used for many years, 
except as pasture and hay land. All of the territory of the Charles River valley 
between Medfield on the east and Medway and Sherborn on the west, with adja- 
cent lands, was called Boggestow by the Indians. The present Town of Dedham 
embraced but a small portion of this. The plain a mile east of the village was 
known as the "herd-house plain," proving beyond a doubt that citizens from 
Dedham, and possibly from other settlements utilized this vicinity as a pasture 
ground. As early as 1642 Dedham granted to one of her citizens a farm of 350 
acres "to lie in or about that place called Boggestow, or not far from thence." This 
tract of land was on the east side of the river and was afterward bought in by 
the selectmen of Medfield, no settlement having been made on the site. 

NEW TOWN FIRST PROPOSED 

The first move for the formation of a new settlement and town was made 
by citizens of Dedham, principally because several of the men of Dedham found 
the town too small for them and, in addition, wished to gain good landed prop- 
erty for themselves. There is a well founded supposition that certain of these 
reactionaries desired a little more freedom in religious matters and in political 
discussions. Ralph Wheelock was the principal man in the "new territory" group. 
He had been educated in England and at first had been a preacher in the estab- 
lished church, later becoming a dissenter. It is thought that Dedham was not 
entirely agreeable to Wheelock at this time. Consequently, a number of citizens, 
led by Wheelock, proposed a scheme to make a new town out of a portion of 
Dedham, also a corresponding portion of land lying on the west side of the river, 
so including the river bed and the adjacent rich meadows. 

PETITION TO GENERAL COURT 

A petition was written, signed by the citizens interested, and presented to the 
General Court, asking for a grant of land on the west side of the river. This 
petition, unfortunately, has not been preserved, but the following order is in- 
scribed on the records of the court : 

"In answer to a petition of the inhabitants of Dedham for a parcel of upland 
and meadow adjoining to their line, to make a village in quantity four miles south 



172 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

and north and three miles east and west, because they are 'streightned' at their 
doors by other towns and rocky lands, etc. Their request is granted so as they 
erect a distinct village thereupon within one year from this day, October 23, 1649, 
and Captain Keaine, Mr. Edward Jackson and the surveyor general are appointed 
to lay it out at any time, Dedham giving them a week's warning." 

Thus, the date of this grant is fixed on October 23, 1649. The land described 
in the above has been called the "old grant," and embraced what was later East 
Medway and now the Town of Millis. 

THE RESULT 

The men appointed by the General Court to lay out the lands west of the river 
performed their specified duty. In the colonial record for May 22, 1650, appears 
the following : 

"Whereas there was a grant made by the General Court at a session the 22d 
of the 8th month, 1649, unto the inhabitants of Dedham in answer to a petition of 
theirs for the enlargement of the village there, as by the said grant may more fully 
appear, this grant, so made, was laid out by Capt. Robert Keaine and Mr. Edward 
Jackson, who have subscribed it with their hands in manner and form following: 
beginning at a small hill, or island, in the meadow on the west side of the Charles 
River, and running from thence about full west three miles, and then, turning a 
south line, ended at the Charles River at three miles and a quarter, this line being 
there shorter than by the grant it was allowed to be, but accepted by grantee, the 
said river is appointed to be the bounds from that place to the place where the 
first line began. The court doth approve of this return of the persons above men- 
tioned concerning the bounds of the said village and in answer to the inhabitants 
of Dedham 'doe order that it shalbe called (Meadfield).' " 

In the above the small hill, or island, mentioned is about one quarter mile 
north of the Boggestow pond; the line "about full west" nearly the present line 
between Medway and Sherborn and Holliston ; the "south line" marks the indenta- 
tion in the north boundary of Medway and came to the river a little west of 
Medway village. 

OTHER TERRITORY SET ASIDE 

On November 14th, shortly after the grant had been obtained from the General 
Court, a town meeting was held in Dedham and a portion of the original Dedham 
territory set apart for the new town. The town voted that there should be "granted 
for the accommodation of the village so much land within the west end of the 
bounds of Dedham next Boggestow as is or may be contained within the extent of 
three miles east and west and four miles north and south — the form and line to be 
varied and altered as in the judgment of such men as shall be deputed thereunto 
shall seem for the most convenient accomadation both of Dedham and the said 
village." 

In the following January three men, Ensign Phillips, John Dwight and Daniel 
Fisher, were appointed to lay out this grant before the middle of April, 1650. 
The records show that they accomplished their mission satisfactorily. This made 
two separate actions taken by the citizens of Dedham for the formation of the 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 173 

new town of Medfield. The first was the petition to the General Court, the 
grant by that body and the appointment of Keaine and Jackson to lay out the 
said grant ; the second action was the independent move of Dedham, severing a 
portion of its territory from the western side of the town and adding it to the 
land obtained by the General Court's grant, also the appointment of Phillips, 
Dwight and Fisher to lay it out. 

THE NAME 

The why and wherefore of the name Medfield has been described in several 
ways. In the report made by Captain Robert Keaine and Edward Jackson is 
the following: "doe order that it shalbe called (Meadfield)." The fact that 
the name is contained in brackets seems to be sufficient proof that it had not been 
decided upon, but was incorporated in the report later. In other of the earlier 
records the name is also spelled Meadfield and Medfield. Of the reasons advanced 
for the name the principal ones are : first, the open field where the village was 
afterward erected was called the "meadow field," hence the contraction into Med- 
field ; second, that there were open fields north and south of the town, which led 
to the name of "mid field ;" and third, that many of the settlers near here came 
from the towns of Dedham and Medfield in Old England, which lay very close 
together. Tradition says that the town of Medfield in New England received 
as a present a bell from Medfield, England; however, no confirmation of this inci- 
dent is available. The latter theory of the origin of the name is the most plaus- 
ible. It is true that Dedham received her name in this manner, which lends 
strength to the conjecture that Medfield also received a name similarly. 

AGREEMENT AND COMMITTEE 

At the town meeting held in Dedham, November 14, 1649, a committee was 
appointed to look after the affairs of the proposed town of Medfield. This com- 
mittee was composed of the following men: Ralph Wheelock, Thomas Wight, 
Robert Hinsdale, Henry dickering, John Dwight, Peter Woodward and Eleazer 
Lusher. These men were chosen principally to superintend the various activities 
incident to the new territory prior to the time of incorporation. 

At the same meeting in Dedham the question was proposed and discussed as 
to the conditions upon which the lands were to be granted. Some of those present 
desired that they be freely given, while others, in consideration of their town 
rights in the meadows, thought the grantees should pay the sum of £ 100 "to be 
divided among such of the inhabitants of Dedham as do not remove to the village." 
This latter view prevailed, but the amount the settler should pay was afterward 
reduced to £50. 

Wheelock, Hinsdale and Thomas Wight were the first to go to the new settle- 
ment ; Chickering, John Dwight and Woodward were named to remain in Ded- 
ham and act for that town; while Eleazer Lusher was appointed clerk of the town 
until Medfield was officially recognized. 

About this time the "agreement" was drawn up by the committee, in all prob- 
ability written by Ralph Wheelock himself, who was the foremost figure. Among 
the things provided for in this agreement were : that all persons receiving grants 



174 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

of land from the new town should become subject to the town government; that all 
differences of opinion or discussions were to be settled by reference or arbitration, 
without resorting to the courts ; that no one should be permitted to become a 
townsman, but such as were honest, peaceable and free from the burden of a bad 
.reputation ;• that grants >of land were to be given to the settlers according to the 
extent of their wealth and the number of people in the family; that no one was 
to receive in the first grant more than twelve acres of upland and twelve of 
meadow, nor less than six of each; and that none should receive lands except 
those who intended to become actual settlers, also that all settlements should be 
made before the end of May, 1651. Teachers and church officers were specially 
provided for and the probable town hall site set off for the minister, which in 
this case went to Rev. John Wilson. A tablet is now fixed to the town hall mark- 
ing this home of the first minister ; it was set in place by the Medfield Historical 
Society. 

The first roads were also designated about this time, but no record exists of 
their exact location. The main road from Dedham to Boggestow entered Med- 
field near Foundry Street. A bridge was constructed across the Charles River near 
the later town farm and a road run eastward through the town to Dedham. From 
this road, at the center of the town, a road ran northward, now North Street, and 
another south, near Pleasant Street. The meeting house lot and the cemetery were 
laid out about the same time. 

FIRST HOUSE LOTS 

The committee in charge of affairs held a meeting on May 10, 1650, when pro- 
visions were made for the laying out of house lots in Medfield. Thomas Wight, 
Robert Hinsdale, Timothy Dwight, Samuel Bullen and John Frairy were appointed 
to assist the surveyor, or "measurer," in this work. Also, every grantee was 
ordered to pay the sum of one shilling to the collector, Thomas Wight. On June 
19, 1650, the committee named proceeded to lay out the first thirteen house lots in 
the new town. 

Number One went to Ralph Wheelock ; this consisted of twelve acres at the 
west corner of Main and North Streets. Number Two was taken by John Ellis ; 
his lot later was known as the Upham Place These two, with that of Rev. John 
Wilson, were the only lots then taken on Main Street. Each of three had what 
was known as a "home field" on the opposite side of the street, extending through 
as far as Oak Street. Lot Number Three was apportioned to Samuel Bullen. 
This site was on the lane leading out of Philip Street, near South Street. Number 
Four was given to Daniel Morse, consisting of twelve acres next to that of Samuel 
Bullen "to the southeast and brook southwest." Numbers Five, Six, Seven and 
Eight were assigned to James Allen, Joseph Clark, Francis Hamant and John 
Turner respectively, all on South Street from the Rhodes House to the corner of 
Curve Street. To John Frairy went Number Nine, comprising twelve acres on 
what is now Frairy Street. Timothy Dwight received twelve acres on the same 
street, his lot being Number Ten. Number Eleven consisted of three and a half 
acres on the later site of the Edmund Chenery home, from the brook to Green 
Street, and was granted to Robert Hinsdale. Number Twelve was granted to 
Thomas Wight and Number Thirteen to John Wight, his son. These latter two 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 175 

were located east of the Hinsdale grant, on the lane leading to their houses, now 
Green Street, but for many years called Wight's Lane. 

FURTHER SETTLEMENTS 

During the following year there was little or no building in the new town. 
Isaac Chenery and Henry Smith located on South Street beyond Oak Street. 
Joshua Fisher, George Barber and John Thurston obtained lots on East Main 
Street from Reverend Wilson's home to the Hewins Place. John Bullard, John 
Plimpton and John Metcalf located their homes on West Main Street from the 
railroad to the cemetery. Joseph Morse, with his aged father, Samuel, obtained 
grants on Pound Street. John Pratt, William Partridge, Thomas Ellis, Thomas 
Mason and John Partridge selected sites on North Street. Ten families came to 
the new town from Weymouth and Braintree. These consisted of Benjamin Alby, 
John Bowers, Nicholas Rockwood, Alexander Lovell, Abraham Harding, Henry 
Adams, John Fussell, Edward Adams, Peter Adams and Margaret Sheppard. All 
took lots on Bridge Street, in the order named, from the almshouse to the corner 
of Bridge and Main Streets. The above named persons, with the original thirteen 
grantees, constituted the first settlers of the town of Medfield. The first family 
to remove to their Medfield home was that of Samuel Bullen, whose house stood 
near Philip Street. 

SURRENDER OF JURISDICTION 

January II, 1651, a general meeting of the inhabitants of Dedham was held, 
at which time the following vote was passed : "It is by the town of Dedham con- 
sented unto and ordered that the power, right and privilege of town government 
that hath hitherto and is remaining in the township of Dedham, or any of their 
trustees or assigns, whereby they have and did act in and on behalf of the town 
of Medfield, shall be, or hereby is, wholly or totally transmitted and delivered into 
the hands, power and disposing of the township of Medfield in general and the 
selectmen thereof and their successors forever. And do also further agree with 
those of Medfield that are now present that such care as is necessary that due and 
seasonable payment be made of that debt due from Medfield to this town upon 
reasonable demand thereof. And further promise as much forbearance thereof 
as the public occasion of the town admit of." 

INCORPORATION 

The sanction of the General Court was given on May 22, 1651, by an act en- 
titled "Medfield's Power," which read as follows : 

"There being a town lately erected beyond Dedham, in the county of Suffolk, 
upon the Charles River, called by the name of Meadfeild, upon their request made 
to this General Court, this court hath granted them all the powers and privileges 
which other towns do enjoy according to law." Medfield was the forty-third town 
in the colony in the order of incorporation. The first board of selectmen for Med- 
field consisted of Ralph Wheelock, Timothy Dwight, Robert Hinsdale, John Frairy 
and Benjamin Alby, with Henry Adams as clerk. 



176 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

A DISCREPANCY IN DATES 

In the above account of the incorporation of the town of Medfield the year 
165 1 is given as the time of this occurrence. To this statement there may be a 
difference of opinion. The date is that used by W. S. Tilden in his various his- 
torical descriptions of the town. Mr. Tilden, while living, was known as a care- 
ful student and writer of history and his works bear a reputation of accuracy 
and veracity. However, there are other authorities which place the date of incor- 
poration in the year 1650. The Manual for the General Court, 1917, also the 
New England Historic Genealogical Society's publication known as the Medfield 
Vital Records, place the date of incorporation as May 22, 1650. 

FIRST YEARS OF EXISTENCE 

It has been stated before that the first family to move to Medfield to take up 
residence was that of Samuel Bullen, whose house stood near Philip Street. The 
meadows surrounding the village proper were laid out into grants in the year 1652 
and given to the owners of house lots. The following year the lands easily 
accessible to cultivation were divided, according to persons and estates, each mem- 
ber of the household being appraised at ten pounds. The same year the town 
clerk began the vital records — births, deaths and marriages — which have been 
continued until the present time. 

The custom of burning over all the waste lands in November of each year, 
which custom was learned from the Indians, was continued in Medfield for many 
years. The purpose was to clear the land of underbrush and so provide good 
pasturage for the live stock. 

For many years, or prior to 1660, the granting of house lots to new settlers, 
the division of wood lands, laying out town roads, making provisions for fences 
and bounds, and adopting other ordinances for the good of the community gave 
the settlers plenty to do. A pair of stocks for the punishment of the unruly were 
also placed upon a public spot. 

The territory west of the river was enlarged in the year 1659 by what was 
known as the "new grant." This land covered an area of two miles east and west 
and four miles north and south. All the owners of house lots in Medfield shared 
in the division of this territory, the same being laid out in portions of fifty to one 
hundred and fifty acres. Very soon afterward families began to settle on the 
west side of the river. 

The first emigration from the town occurred about the year 1670, when the 
Hinsdales, Plimptons and Frairys removed to the Connecticut Valley. Near the 
same time a post road was established from Boston to Hartford and a road laid 
out from Medfield to Mendon. In 1672 John Awashamog, an Indian of Natick, 
laid claim to the territory west of the Charles River. The Natick tribe had been 
the original holders of this territory and it would seem that the Indian's claim bore 
some weight, for it was compromised by the payment of twenty-one pounds. The 
year 1676 was a memorable one in the history of Medfield, for in this year occurred 
King Philip's war and the burning of Medfield. Details of this disastrous event 
may be found in Chapter III of this volume. 

Again, in 1685, Josias, a son of Chickatabot, made a claim to the lands within 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 177 

the town of Medfield. Mr. Pynchon had already purchased the land and paid 
for it, but as no deed could be discovered the town was forced to compromise 
with the Indian for ten pounds four shillings. 

The Black Swamp lands were laid out in the year 1702 to the proprietors, num- 
bering one hundred and twenty-three. About twenty-seven of these lived west 
of the Charles River. 

DIVISION OF THE TOWN 

In 1712 the question of dividing the town of Medfield was seriously discussed 
by the citizens. In 1713 the people on the west side of the river sent a petition 
to the General Court, a committee was appointed and instructed to visit the land 
in question and make a report. This they did and advised a division of the town. 
By an act of the Legislature, October 25, 1713, the town of Medway was set off 
and the Charles River became the western boundary of Medfield. This division 
is treated more at length in Chapter XXI on the Town of Medway. 

DIVISION OF COUNTY 

The first moves for the division of the county of Suffolk occurred in the year 
1726, but not until over a half century later did they materialize. The town of 
Medfield took great interest throughout this long stretch of years and frequently 
the discussion occupied most of the time at the town meetings. The result, as 
stated before, was the formation of Norfolk County in 1793. At one time the 
proposition was advanced to make Medfield the shire-town, but the objections of 
certain citizens prevented this. They said that the temptation of the citizens to 
visit the court room during the time of trials would be prejudicial to industrial 
activities. 

POPULATION 

The following table of figures relative to the population of the Town of Med- 
field will be found interesting in view of the fact that it has never been published 
in a historical volume upon Medfield. The census statistics are taken from the 
state and government census reports as compiled by the New England Historic 
Genealogical Society. It is stated by one authority that in 1675, twenty-five years 
after the incorporation of the town, Medfield had seventy-seven landed pro- 
prietors. 

1660 (Prov.) 234 

1765 (Prov.) 628 

1776 (Prov.) 775 

1790 (U. S.) 731 

1800 (U.S.) 745 

1810 (U. S.) 786 

1820 (U.S.) 892 

1830 (U.S.) 817 

1840 (U. S.) 883 

1850 (U. S.) 966 

Vol. 1—12 



178 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 



i855 
i860 
1865 
1870 

1875 
1880 
1885 
1890 

1895 
1900 

1905 
1910 

1915 



State 
U. S 
State 
U. S 
State 
U. S 
State 
U. S. 
State 
U. S 
State 
U. S 
State 



984 
1,082 
1,012 
1,142 
1,163 
i,37i 
1,594 

M93 
1,872 

2,926 

3,3H 

3,466 

3,648 



POSTOFFICE 

The first effort for the establishment of a postoffice in the Town of Medfield 
was made in 1806. Daniel Adams wrote to Seth Hastings of Mendon, Congress- 
man, under date of January 28, 1806, stating many reasons why Medfield should 
have a regularly established postoffice, also extolling his own qualities for the 
position of postmaster. Prior to this time the citizens had been compelled to go 
to Dedham or Medway for their mails. Mr. Adams did not succeed in obtaining 
the postmastership, although Medfield was given the office April 1, 1807, and 
Samuel Seaver appointed the first postmaster. He kept the office in his small 
store on the corner of North and Main streets, where he had succeeded Oliver 
Wheelock in business. The postoffice is now located in the town hall. 

THE TOWN HALL 



In the year 1866 the town received a bequest from George W. Chenery for 
the purpose of constructing a town hall in the village of Medfield. This sum of 
money, amounting to $23,700 was placed in the hands of the following trustees : 
Charles Hamant, Isaac Fiske and E. P. Carpenter, the latter of Foxboro. In 1869 
the trustees purchased the old tavern lot in the center of the village for $1,760 for 
the site of the hall. In 1872 the town hall was erected and dedicated on September 
10th. The firm of Hartwell & Swasey drew the plans and the contracting was 
done by C. H. & W. Stewart. The total cost of the building, exclusive of the 
land, was $26,668. 

The citizens of Medfield were permitted to enjoy their excellent new hall but 
little over a year. On January 8, 1874, the building was destroyed by fire, with 
the exception of a small portion of the tower. The public library, the fire engine 
and apparatus and the hearse which was kept in the basement were all burned, 
also a portion of the public records. By the heroic efforts of a few of the citizens, 
led by Charles Hamant, the safe which contained valuable town documents, was 
suspended by a chain and prevented from falling into the flames below ; this alone 
saved the most important records from destruction. The fire occurred very late 
at night and by the time the alarm had been turned in had progressed too far to 
be checked. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 179 

The town waited but a short time before taking action toward the erection of 
a new town hall upon the site of the old one. On January 24th a meeting was held 
and there a vote was taken to rebuild the hall immediately. T. W. Silloway was 
named as the architect and Mead, Mason & Company were awarded the contract 
for building. The total cost of the reconstruction was $21,500, of which sum 
$15,000 was received from the insurance. The new town hall was rededicated 
November 2, 1874, with appropriate exercises. The postoffice, public library, and 
historical society rooms are now housed in the building. 

However, the library and historical society will in the near future be moved 
into the handsome new brick library building in process of erection opposite the 
town hall on Main Street. This building was given to the town of Medfield by 
Granville S. Dailey. 

PROMINENT EARLY CITIZENS 

The one deserving first mention among the early settlers of the town of Med- 
field is undoubtedly Ralph Wheelock, often spoken of as the "founder of Med- 
field.'' Wheelock received his education at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, 
England, where he took his degree in 1626 and 1631. For a time he was a preacher 
in the Established Church. In 1638 he came to Dedham, was made a freeman 
March 13, 1638, and died at Medfield January 11, 1684. For several generations 
afterward descendants of Ralph Wheelock lived in Medfield. Col. Ephraim 
Wheelock, his great-grandson, served in both the French and Indian and the Revo- 
lutionary Wars. Notwithstanding the fact that some writers have criticised Ralph 
Wheelock for his dissenting views, it cannot be denied that he was a man of 
energy, large ideas and strong executive ability. To his efforts may be credited the 
success of the movement to form the new town of Medfield. 

The next in order of importance in early Medfield was the Rev. John Wilson, 
the first minister in the town, whose residence stood on the site of the town hall. 
Reverend Wilson commenced his pastorate here in December, 1651. He con- 
tinued his work among the people of Medfield a little over forty years, when his 
death occurred in 1691. He was a much loved man and of sterling quality. 

Timothy Dwight, son of John Dwight, one of the original thirteen house lot 
grantees, was a freeman June 2, 1641. Dwight was a representative for Medfield 
in 1652. He died in this town in the year 1677. 

Daniel Morse, son of Samuel Morse, first came to Dedham and then to Med- 
field. He became a freeman May 6, 1635. His death occurred in Sherborn in 1688. 

Thomas Wight came from the Isle of Wight to Dedham in 1637. He was of 
the Medfield incorporation and died March 17, 1674. 

Robert Hinsdale, one of the first thirteen lot holders, became a freeman March 
13. 1638. He later moved to Medfield, thence to Hadley, where he resided for 
several years, and then to Deerfield. At the latter place he was killed, with his 
three sons, by the Indians at the time of Captain Lothrop's defeat at Bloody 
Rrook. 

Samuel Bullen became a freeman June 2, 1641, and died January 16, 1692. 
He was one of the first settlers in the town of Medfield. 

George Barber first came to Dedham in 1643, and later moved to Medfield. He 
became a freeman May 16, 1647, was a representative in 1668-9 ar) d a high militia 
officer. 



180 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

PUBLIC UTILITIES 

The improvement of roads, public conveniences and private property has been 
a matter of gradual and substantial growth in Medfield. This growth has ex- 
tended over a period of many years and is an excellent proof of the stability of 
the town. Another feature of Medfield at the present time is the fact that there 
is practically no debt to burden the citizens. In the past Medfield has bonded 
itself heavily, but in recent years these debts have been cleared away, leaving the 
town in 1917-18 in very prosperous condition. 

Water is supplied by the Medfield Water Company, the supply being taken 
from springs. A city plant was first proposed about 1902, but never materialized. 
The present company was organized several years later. The Medfield Electric 
Light and Power Company supplies electricity to the inhabitants. This corpora* 
tion was established m November, 1900. 

The first attempt at sewer construction was made in the '80s, when the straw 
works and the town divided upon the expense of constructing a sewer to carry the 
waste from the factory. In 1886 the town voted to build a common sewer from 
a point on North Street to a point northwest of Dale Street, where a filtering 
basin was constructed. In 188 1 a sewer had been laid from the corner of Main 
and Pleasant streets along North Street to the Meeting House Pond. The sewer 
then started has been extended at different times until now practically every 
street of importance in the village of Medfield is provided with this convenience. 
Land was donated by D. D. Curtis for the sewer-bed. 

A large amount of road improvement has been accomplished within the last 
decade. There is hardly a half mile of roadway in the town now not improved 
and finished with Tarvia, a road bed composition of good wearing quality. The 
streets of the town were first given names in 1855, principally for the con- 
venience in bounding lands and executing conveyances. The selectmen who per- 
formed this task and christened the roads were Charles C. Sewall, George M. 
Smith and Benjamin F. Shumway. In 1856 some of the old town roads were 
discontinued. 

Adequate fire protection is supplied by the usual hook and ladder and hose 
companies ; the excellent water supply and pressure assist greatly in the preven- 
tion of any more disastrous years of fires such as occurred in the early '70s. 
The first fire engine in the town was a gift some years before 1832. This antiquated 
engine was kept in a barn. A Hunneman fire engine was purchased in 1853 at a 
cost of $600. A short time afterward an engine house was constructed on North 
Street and a company formed. In 1877 a hook and ladder truck, with apparatus, 
was purchased by the town and another company formed. The first telephone 
line built in the town came through in 1883. 

The first step taken for the erection of a building for the care of the poor 
and destitute occurred in 1837 when the town purchased the farm of George 
Newell for $3,100 and changed it into a poor farm. Until this time paupers were 
placed on public auction and sold to the lowest bidder for their support. 

The visitor to Medfield town is at once impressed by the large number of stately 
trees lining the roadways, some of them of magnificent proportions and of great 
age. These trees are not all the products of chance, for in the year 1798 the 
citizens of the town became interested in the systematic planting of trees along 




THE E. V. MITCHELL COMPANY'S HAT FACTORY, MEDFIELD 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 181 

the streets. The silvan beauty of the town and village is largely the result of the 
enthusiasm aroused at that time for tree planting. 

FIRST VITAL STATISTICS 

A daughter of John Ellis, afterward the wife of Samuel Rockwood, was first 
white female child born in the town. 

The first death was that of the infant child of Rev. John Wilson in De- 
cember, 1652. The first death among the settlers was that of John Wight in 

1653- 

The marriage of Thomas Mason and Margery Partridge in 1653 was tne 
first in the town. The ceremony was performed by Eleazer Lusher of Dedham. 
No minister, unless possibly the Episcopal, was qualified under the English law 
to marry people until about thirty years later. Ralph Wheelock was appointed 
magistrate in 1656, then he had the privilege of conducting the marriage cere- 
monies in this vicinity. 

The first murder in Medfield occurred in the year 1802, when William P. 
Allen was killed by his brother-in-law, Ebenezer Mason. Mason was tried, con- 
victed and hanged on the 7th of October. His body was stolen from the grave 
shortly afterward and, although a half-hearted atttempt was made to recover it, 
the effort was unsuccessful. 

In 1656 occurred the marriage of Thomas Holbrook and Hannah Sheppard, 
before Ralph Wheelock and Thomas Grubb, the first before the town commis- 
sioners of Medfield. 

FIRST VALUATIONS 

The first list of property valuations on record for the Town of Medfield are 

those of 1652, and not all of them are itemized. As an example of the method 
of valuations the following account under the heading of "Ralph Wheelock His 
Estate" is given: 

£ s. d. 

Psons. 10 100 o o 

Acrs 9 bro 33 o o 

Unbro. 3 5 o o 

Orch 10 o o 

House 30 o o 

Oxen 2 14 o o 

Cows 2 12 o o 

3 yearl 5 o o 

2 yearl. t 3 10 o 

One yearl 2 o o 

Debts to rece 40 o o 

Overplus of first estate given in 20 o o 



274 10 o 

There were thirty-four property holders listed in this first valuation of town 
wealth. Their names and the total valuation of their holdings are given in the 
following: table : 



182 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

John Bower £gi 

Robert Hinsdale 250 

John Thurston 246 

Francis Hamant 101 

Albert Harding 21 1 

James Allin 139 

Isaac Chenery 41 

Edward Adams 104 

Peter Adams 100 

Alexander Lovell 88 

John Plimpton 106 

Daniel Morse . . . .' 251 

John Turner 116 

John Bullard 166 

John Alike 148 

George Barber 240 

Joseph Clark 183 

Samuel Bullen 175 

Henry Smith 183 

John Wilson 231 

John Frairy 316 

Benjamin Alby 182 

Timothy Dwight 278 

Thomas Dwight 322 

John Wight 88 

Widow Sheppard 105 

Joshua Fisher 180 

Joseph Morse 260 

Samuel Morse 90 

Thomas Grubb 200 

John Metcalf 135 

Nicholas Rockwood 100 

Henry Adams 210 

Ralph Wheelock See above 

The whole valuation of the property in Medfield in 1652 totaled £5,834. 

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS 

In early Medfield slavery prevailed to some extent. Rev. Joseph Baxter, in his 
will which was probated in 1745, bequeathed to his wife the slave woman Nanny. 
He also named certain conditions of good behavior by which Nanny could even- 
tually gain her freedom. Warwick Green, Colonel Wheelock's body servant 
during his service in the army, was brought here directly from Africa. New- 
port Green was another slave in this town. 

A cemetery along Main Street was laid out immediately after the settlement 
of the town. This plot of ground was cleared of bushes and undergrowth every 
year and in 1843 was nrst enlarged by an addition of land on the north and east. 
A wall next to the street was built, paths and driveways laid out, and trees 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 183 

planted. The resting places of only four of the original settlers could be found 
in recent years, the graves being those of Rev. John Wilson, Samuel Bullen, 
Samuel Morse and John Metcalf. 

About the year 1856 a law was passed that every town should have an "ordi- 
nary" or public house. The pioneer tavern keeper in Medfield was Joshua Fisher, 
who opened up for business where the home of Mrs. Margaret Hewins was after- 
ward located. Samuel Sadey began to operate a public house on North Street, 
opposite the head of Dale Street; another was in the south part of town and 
first kept by Sabin Mann; another was started by Seth Clark; Moses Richard- 
son also kept one in the east part of town. In 1810 David Fairbanks, a prominent 
business man of Medfield at this time, built a tavern on the site of the town hall 
and this was for fifty years the only public house in Medfield. The Wheelock 
estate was purchased by Fairbanks in order to begin this business. 

The bi-centennial anniversary of the burning of Medfield by the Indians 
was celebrated February 26, 1876, with appropriate exercises. The day started 
by the ringing of bells and the firing of the national salute by a detachment from 
Battery B of the Massachusetts Artillery under Captain Baxter. The Medfield 
Band supplied music during the day. Addresses were delivered by Rev. C. C. 
Sewall, R. R. Bishop and a poem was read by James Hewins. The exercises were 
held at 10:30 A. M. in the town hall. In the afternoon the people reassembled 
and various activities consumed the remainder of the day. 

On June 6, 1901 occurred the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth an- 
niversary of the incorporation of the Town of Medfield. An appropriation of 
$1,500 had been secured some months prior to the day for the proper conduct of 
the celebration. The day started in the usual patriotic manner and at 9 o'clock 
the grand procession was held, composed of the following: officers, committees, 
American Waltham Watch Company Band of twenty-two pieces, Moses Ellis 
Post, Xo. 117, G. A. R., Medfield Lodge No. 216, I. O. O. F., Medfield Lodge 
No. 40, A. O. U. W., Medfield Grange No. ii4 ; P. of H., fire department. Women's 
Relief Corps, Hannah Adams Club, schools, trades, etc. Literary exercises were 
held at the First Congregational Church at 11 A. M., with the principal address 
by W. S. Tilden. At 1 o'clock a banquet was held in Chenery Hall, presided 
over by James Hewins. Sports and games were held at 2 .30 P. M and at 8 P. 
M. a concert was given by the band. 

The Boston and Hartford turnpike was constructed in 1806. It was owned 
by numerous stockholders who eventually found it an unprofitable investment. A 
line of coaches was run through the town for the next thirty years and toll gates 
were erected at various points along the route. 

The first guide boards in Medfield were erected in 1795. There were five 
of them and they were placed at the corners of the principal townways. 

In a paper read by James Hewins before the Worcester Society of Antiquity 
and others at the annual field day at Medfield June 20, 1891, the writer brought 
forth the suggestion of naming the more prominent homes of the town after In- 
dian characters who had historical connection with the town, either through the 
great Massasoit, in whose dominion the territory now in Medfield was situated 
at the time of the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620, or through his son, Metacomet, 
otherwise known as King Philip. Many names were suggested by Mr. Hewins, 
the more prominent of which follow, also the name of the residence to bear 



184 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

each : Akkompoin, Edwin V. Mitchell, North Street ; Annawon, George L. Hurll, 
Canal Street; Ashamattan, W. S. Tilden, Spring Street; Mantowapuct, Almenia 
C. and Amelia F. Everett, Main Street; Mattatoag, M. F. Clark, South Street; 
Metacomet, Francis Hamant, South Street; Miantunnomoh, Samuel Ellis, North 
Street; Monoco, Ellen Curtis, North Street; Mooanum, W. R. Smith, South 
Street; Nanuntemoo, J. Henry Gould, Main Street; Petonowowett, George G. 
Babcock, South Street; Pokanoket, A. B. Parker, Main Street; Potok, T. L. 
Barney, Main Street; Pumham, J. Augustus Fitts, Main Street; Quadequin, 
James Hewins, Main Street ; Quanapohit, J. H. Richardson, North Street ; Quin- 
napin, Wilmot W. Mitchell, Main Street; Quinobequin, G. R. Chase, Bridge 
Street; Sonkanuhoo, Henry M. Parker, Main Street; Sowampset, A. E. Mason, 
North Street; Tiashq, Albert A. Lovell, Railroad Street; Wampatuck, W. P. 
Hewins, Main Street; Watuspaquin, Hamlet Wight, North Street; Wawaloam, 
Stillman J. Spear, North Street ; Weecum, William Marshall, Main Street ; Weet- 
amoo, George H. Smith, Main Street; Woosamequin, Elizabeth S., Alice O. and 
Edward U. Sewall, Main Street ; Wootonekanuske, J. B. Hale, South Street ; Jo- 
seph A. Allen retained his name of Castle Hill. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE TOWN OF MEDWAY 

■ 

ORIGINAL OWNERSHIP — FIRST GRANT OF LAND — THE FIRST ACTUAL SETTLER — THE 
STONE HOUSE — FIRST LOTS LAID OUT — THE NEW GRANT — DIVISION OF LOTS — 

MEETING HOUSE STRIFE — INCORPORATION THE NAME — THE ORIGINAL 

FOUNDERS — POPULATION — FIRST TOWN MEETING HIGHWAYS — POSTOFFICES 

MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENT — CEMETERIES — ITEMS OF INTEREST. 

The town of Medway lies in the western portion of the county of Norfolk and 
is bounded in the following manner : on the north by Middlesex County ; on the 
west by Worcester County ; on the south by the towns of Bellingham and Frank- 
lin; and on the east by the town of Millis. The territory of Medway presents 
an undulating surface, well watered by the Charles River and some of its tribu- 
taries. The uplands of this town once became notable as fine meadow lands, 
a fact which aided in the first settlement of the town. Part of the town is hilly, 
but not in sufficient area to destroy the value of the land. 

ORIGINAL OWNERSHIP 

The territory now comprising the town of Medway originally belonged to the 
territory claimed by the Nipmuck Indians, once a very powerful tribe. Prior to 
King Philip's war this tribe became divided, one of the principal branches being 
the Natick. The negotiations with these Indians relative to the country in this 
vicinity were carried on mostly by the settlers of Medfield, a description of which 
is given in the chapter on that town. In addition, the early legal transactions 
of the Town of Medfield will answer for the earliest government of Medway, as 
the latter town was largely contained in Medfield when set aside from Dedham. 

FIRST GRANT OF LAND 

In the year 1643 tne General Court of Massachusetts Bay granted to the 
Rev. John Allin 200 acres of wild land in the forest beyond the west bounds of 
Dedham. This is probably the first grant, at least the first recorded, in the terri- 
tory which later was to become the Town of Medway. Reverend Allin, according 
to history, never occupied his land in person. 

In 1649 Captain Robert Keaine (also spelled Kayne, Kaine and Keane), of 
Boston, received a grant of 1,074 acres to the north of the Allin farm. The line 
between Medfield and Sherborn afterwards drawn corresponded very nearly with 
the line between these two grants. 

About the same time thirty-three acres of land were laid out "before Bridge 
Street." These seven lots were bounded on the east by the river and formed a 

185 



186 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

tract later crossed by the turnpike. The first land on the west side of the river 
to be divided among the citizens of Medfield was the part known as the 
"broad meadows."' In 1653 Abraham Harding and Peter Adams had grants in 
Grape Meadow, east of the Black Swamp. In 1655 grants were also made to 
Benjamin Alby and Alexander Lovell. 

THE FIRST ACTUAL SETTLER 

The first actual settler within the territory afterwards included in the Town 
of Medway was George Fairbanks. He came about the year 1657, although this 
date, as well as his birth and parentage, is buried in obscurity. The year 1657 
is approximated only. Fairbanks was married on August 26, 1646 to Mary A. 
Harris in Dedham, raised a family of five children, and died January 10, 1682. 
On February 6, 1660, the Town of Medfield granted to Fairbanks "such timber for 
fencing as shall make 300 rails, with posts for it, as shall be set out by brother 
Wight and John Metcalf shall appoint him with what he has already fallen to 
make up 300 rails." This is the first mention of him in the town records. Fair- 
banks was not associated with the settlement of Medfield Plain, but purchased the 
land which in 1643 na d been granted to Reverend Allin by the General Court. 
So he held his land by purchase and not by town grant. His dwelling was the 
noted "stone house" near the north border of the pond. The location of his farm 
prevented Fairbanks from being listed as one of the Medfield proprietors in the 
division of the New Grant. In fact, his political and social activities were almost 
wholly confined to the town of Sherborn, where he once served as selectman. 
For at least seven generations the original farm remained in the hands of and was 
cultivated by Fairbanks' descendants. In 1660 it is recorded that his nearest 
neighbors were "Nicholas Woods, Daniel Morse, Henry Lealand, Thomas Hol- 
brook and Thomas Bass." 

In 1652 Nicholas Woods and Thomas Holbrook, both from Dorchester, settled 
on the west side of the river, between Death's Bridge and Holbrook's Mills. They 
were located one-half mile from each other, were beyond any town and were 
four miles from any English neighbors. In the same year, or soon afterward, 
Hopestill Lealand, seventy years of age, with his son Henry, came here from 
Dorchester. In 1658 John Hill and Thomas Breck located to the southwest of the 
above named, one-third of a mile north of Boggestow Pond. They were also from 
Dorchester. By marriage most of these men soon became related, forming a large 
family community. Thomas Bass appeared in the vicinity about 1660 and married 
Woods' daughter. It is probable that Benjamin Bullard resided nearby at this 
time. 

Joseph Daniel was the second actual settler within the bounds of Medway. 
He was the son of Robert Daniel, of Cambridge or Watertown. He first became 
identified with Medfield, becoming a townsman there in 1662. His marriage to 
Mary Fairbanks on November 16, 1665, was the first in Medway, although that 
of Jonathan Adams and Elizabeth Fussell occurred the same year. 

Prior to the year 1660 George Fairbanks was the only settler west of the 
river in what later was set off as the Town of Medway. John Fussell and his 
son-in-law, Jonathan Adams, were early settlers on the west side. William Allin 
probably located here about 1668, when be married Elizabeth Twitchell, daughter 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 187 

of Benjamin Twitchell. Allin died in 1736, when over ninety years of age. Be- 
fore 1669 Peter Calley located near the Boggestow Pond. At the time of the 
burning of Medfield Abraham Harding was constructing his house in Medway 
territory. Josiah Rockwood in 1677 settled on the place later known as the 
Oak Grove farm. John Rockwood built his house here about the same time. 
John Richardson is first mentioned in the records of the town in 1678. Before 
1680 Peter Adams probably had settled on the west side of the Charles. In his 
house the first public worship after the incorporation of Medfield was held. 
Samuel Daniel, brother of Joseph Daniel, settled in 1680 and after his death 
fifteen years later the farm was sold to Jasper Adams. Vincent Shuttleworth 
came to the territory in 1681. He was a deserter during the Indian wars and for 
the offense was fined a sum of £5 ; later, however, he further proved his worth- 
lessness by becoming the first pauper of Medfield. John Partridge, John Adams 
and John Clark came in 1681. Samuel Hill appeared about 1693. 

The tax list for the year 1693 gives the names of the following men then living 
in Medfield west of the river : John Adams, Jonathan Adams, Sr., Jonathan Adams, 
Jr., Peter Adams, John Clark, Joseph Daniel, Joseph Daniel, Jr., John Ellis, 
George Fairbanks, Jonathan Fisher, Abraham Harding, Samuel Hill, John Part- 
ridge, John Richardson, John Rockett and Josiah Rockett. 

THE STONE HOUSE 

During the early days of settlement in the town of Medfield west of the river, 
later included in Medway, the settlers were compelled to devise some means for 
protection. The Indians were hostile and were burning, killing and pillaging 
throughout the neighborhood, so it became necessary for the men to act quickly in 
order to safeguard their families from destruction. Accordingly, a stone garrison 
house was constructed on the north side of Boggestow Pond. This stone block- 
house, or fort, was about sixty-five feet long and two stories in height, and was 
built of flat stones carried to the site. The house was lined with heavy white 
pine planking and a double row of loop-holes were cut clear around the four 
sides. The single door at the south end, facing the pond, served as an entrance 
and window. Here one could enter without over exposure to the enemy were he 
nearby. The upper story was arranged for the women's quarters, with a small 
sick room at one end. 

It is known with certainty that George Fairbanks used this stone house as a 
residence. The precaution of the settlers proved to be very fortunate, for on 
several occasions the stone house was subjected to siege by the Indians, every time 
without success. The bullets were easily turned aside by the thick stone walls 
and the white men's fire in return prevented the enemy from venturing near. 

FIRST LOTS LAID OUT 

Late in the year 1658 the town of Medfield voted to lay out certain uplands 
on the west side. These lands are described in the town records by the following 
sentences : "On the long plain to begin next to Boggestow River on that end." "At 
the further corner of our bounds by Charles River to begin next to the town." 
"In pine valley to begin at the north end and go through it." "At the end of pine 
valley on a parcel of land that the path goes through." 



188 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

In the spring of 1659 fifteen lots were granted, in all one hundred and eighty 
acres. A highway was projected on the east side of the lots, running north and 
south. The lots were bounded on the east and west sides by waste lands and 
were taken up, beginning at Boggestow Brook, in the following order : 

acres 

Benjamin Alby 15 

Heirs of Joseph Morse - 15 

Thomas Wight, Sr 15 

John Thurston 10 

Samuel Bullen 13 

Peter Adams 10 

Nicholas Rockwood 11 

Thomas Wight, Jr 6 

John Frairy, Sr 14 

Robert Hinsdale 9 

Joshua Fisher 15 

Thomas Thurston 11 

Thomas Ellis 9 

Mr. Wilson 13 

James Allen ,' 7 



173 



About the only one of the above men who became an inhabitant of the 
territory so set aside was Nicholas Rockwood, who, in his old age, came to live 
with his son John. The land was taken by the men from Medfield principally to 
provide homes for their sons, a few of whom later profited by their fathers' 
wisdom. 

THE NEW GRANT 

In the records of the town of Medfield occurs the following : "The Eleventh 
of May one Thousand six hundred fifty-nine, in answer to a petition of the town 
of Medfield presented to the General Court was granted by the court to the 
town of Medfield an addition of land at the west end of their former grant, as the 
record of the court will make appear." 

In the Colonial Record for May, 1659, appears the following: "In answer 
to a petition of the inhabitants of Medfield, the court judgeth it meet to grant 
unto them as an addition to their former bounds and at the west end thereof two 
miles east and west and four miles north and south, provideth it entrench not 
upon any former grants, and that Captain Lusher and Lieutenant Fisher are 
hereby appointed to lay it out." 

At the next annual town meeting of Medfield, February 6, 1660, the follow- 
ing vote was passed by those assembled : "It is ordered that the new grant made to 
the town this year by the court shall be divided by way of dividend to all the 
inhabitants of the town that are proprietors in the town and that it shall be di- 
vided by the common rules of division by number of persons and estates." 

Each member of the family equaled ten pounds of estate in the partition of the 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 189 

land. At a later town meeting, April 20, 1660, two highways were ordered to 
be laid through the new grant, one a half mile north of the Charles River from 
east to west and the other through "the midst of the tract of land from the way 
that runs west to a line to the north end of the same." These roadways divided 
the grant into three separate sections, known as the River, East and West Sec- 
tions. The River Section was divided into twelve lots, including an area of 
1,079 acres. The West Section was divided into nineteen lots, embracing 1,096 
acres. The East Section was divided into sixteen lots, covering 1,658 acres. 
There were about 200 acres in the northeast corner of the grant which were un- 
divided. The total cost of laying out this new grant was £19 6s. 5d. 

DIVISION OF LOTS 

The following table will show the names of those who received lots in the 
new grant, the order in which they received them and the amount of land in 
each : 

River Section 

acres 

Ralph Wheelock 156 

John Metcalf 117 

Robert Mason 57 

John Pratt 39 

Widow Sheppard 5 : 

Thomas Wight, Jr 56 

Timothy Dwight 146 

John Turner 120 

Alexander Lovell 94 

John Ellis 126 

James Allen 102 

Joseph Thurston 15 

West Section 

acres 

Heirs of Joseph Morse 141 

Henry Smith 158 

John Bullard 100 

Sampson Frairy 68 

Edward Adams 102 

John Fussell 24 

William Partridge 61 

Jonathan Adams 84 

Daniel Morse 12 

John Plimpton 107 

Isaac Chenery JJ 

Joseph Clark 161 

Robert Hinsdale 157 

John Fisher 61 



190 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Nicholas Rockwood 85 

Samuel Bullen 136 

Abiel Wight 38 

John Frairy, Jr 1 77 

Mr. Wilson 147 

East Section 

acres 

Gershom W T heelock 36 

Joshua Fisher /S 

Benjamin Alby 138 

John Frairy, Sr 147 

Henry Adams 148 

Thomas Wight, Sr 166 

Thomas Mason 73 

Francis Hamant 87 

John Partridge 69 

John Warfield 22 

Thomas Ellis 77 

John Bowers 102 

Thomas Thurston 72 

John Thurston 191 

Peter Adams 101 

George Barber 149 

Under the date of March, 1702, the Black Swamp, so called from the forest 
of pines covering the area, was ordered to be laid out into lots. The record is : 
"Voted, that the Black Swamp shall be laid out with such necks of uplands and 
ilands as shall make it f ormable by our former rules of laying out lands." There 
were one hundred and twenty-three landed proprietors listed, the following 
twenty-seven of whom were residents on the west side of the river: Jasper 
Adams, John Adams, Jonathan Adams, Jr., Peter Adams, Benjamin Allen, Wil- 
liam Allen, John Clarke, Theophilus Clark, Timothy Clark, Ebenezer Daniel, 
Joseph Daniel, Joseph Daniel, Jr., John Ellis, Sr., George Fairbanks, Jonathan 
Fisher, Henry Guernsey, Abraham Harding, Samuel Hill, John Partridge, Samuel 
Partridge, Widow Rebecca Richardson, John Richardson, John Rockwood, Josiah 
Rockwood, Vincent Shuttleworth and Ebenezer Thompson. 

MEETING HOUSE STRIFE 

During the following decade or so there was a strong increase in the popula- 
tion on the west side of the river. The people at length became desirous of obtain- 
ing a separate meeting house for the west side of the river and so petitioned the 
Town of Medfield on May 7, 1712, for this privilege. Their petition was unsuc- 
cessful, so later the matter was carried to the General Court. This last petition 
was opposed vigorously, but met with colonial favor, and the General Court 
"recommended to the town of Medfield to raise money towards the building of 
another meeting house on the west side of the Charles River." This was opposed 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 191 

by a vote of the town and March 9, 17 13, "voted that the town shall petition the 
General Court, declaring their inability to build another meeting house in the 
town and to bare the charge attending it." 

INCORPORATION 

The General Court finally despatched a committee to look over the ground, 
with the view of establishing a new town west of the Charles River. This com- 
mittee handed in a favorable report after their investigations. Judge Sewall 
wrote that .he "helped the selectmen prepare the bill for Medway, the new town 
on the west of Charles River." The act was passed the next day, October 25, 
1713. Medway, in the order of incorporations, was the sixty-ninth town in the 
Massachusetts Colony. The Act of Incorporation itself, which is still preserved, 
reads as follows : 

. "anno regni annae reginae duodecim 

"An Act for Dividing of the Township of Med field and erecting a new Town 
there by the name of Medway. 

"Whereas the lands of the township of Medfield within the county of Suffolk 
are situated on the Charles River, to wit, on both sides of the said river, being 
divided by the same : and the town plat and principal settlement, as also the 
meeting house for the public worship of God, being seated on the east side for 
the accomadation of the first and ancient inhabitants, who are now much in- 
creased, many issued forth and settled on the west side of the river to a com- 
petent number for a distinct town of themselves, and labor under many hard- 
ships and difficulties by reason of separation by the river to enjoy equal benefit 
and town privileges with others of their fellow townsmen and neighbors, and 
have therefore made application to the town as also addressed this court to be 
made a distinct town. Committees appointed by this court having been upon 
the ground, viewed the land and reported in their favor for proper bounds to be 
set them. 

"Be it Enacted by his Excellency the Governor, Council, and Representatives 
in General Court assembled and by the authority of the Same: 

"That all those lands lying on the west side of the Charles River, now part of 
the township of Medfield, be erected and made into a distinct and separate town 
by the name of Medway, the river to be the bound betwixt the two towns. And 
that the inhabitants of Medway have, use and exercise and enjoy all such power 
and privileges which other towns have, so by law use, exercise and enjoy. So 
that they procure and settle a learned, orthodox minister of good conversation 
among them and make provision for an honorable support and maintenance for 
him, and that in order thereto, they be discharged from further payment to the 
ministry in Medfield from and after the last day of February next. 

"Provided also that all province and town taxes that are already levied, or 
granted, be collected and paid, and all town rights and common undivided lands 
remain to be divided among the interested as if no separation had been made. 

"And Mr. George Fairbanks, a principal inhabitant of the said town of 
Medway, is hereby directed and empowered to notify and summon the inhabitants 



192 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

duly qualified for voters to assemble and meet together for the choosing of town 
officers to stand until the next annual election according to law. 
"A true copy — examined. 

"Jsa. Addington, Sec'y." 

The first board of selectmen consisted of Samuel Partridge, Jonathan Adams, 
Sr., Jonathan Adams, Jr., Edward Clark and John Rockett, the latter also acting 
as the first clerk of the town. 

THE NAME 

Like many of the other towns in Norfolk County there are several reasons 
advanced for the naming of the town. Some traditional records have given the 
reason for the name Medway as the location of the town, lying midway between 
the meadow lands as it did. Another is that Medway was the half way stopping 
point on the old post road frorh Dedham to Mendon. Other authorities have 
placed the origin of the name as the Medway River in England. 

THE ORIGINAL FOUNDERS 

There were forty-eight men who were credited with the honor of being the 
founders of the town of Medway. The names of these men follow : Daniel 
Adams, Jasper Adams, John Adams, Jonathan Adams, Jonathan Adams, Jr.; 
Joseph Adams, Obadiah Adams, Peter Adams, James Allen, William Allen, John 
Barber, Joseph Barber, John Bullard, Malachi Bullard, William Burgess, The- 
ophilus Clark, Timothy Clark, Edward Clark, Joseph Curtis, Ebenezer Daniel, 
Jeremiah Daniel, Joseph Daniel, Joseph Daniel, Jr., Samuel Daniel, John Ellis, 
Joseph Ellis, George Fairbanks, Henry Guernsey, Abraham Harding, Abraham 
Harding, Jr., John Harding, Thomas Harding, Samuel Hill, Samuel Hill, Jr., 
Ephraim Hill, Michael Metcalf, Samuel Metcalf, Benoni Partridge, John Part- 
ridge, Jonathan Partridge, Samuel Partridge, Daniel Richardson, John Richard- 
son, John Rockwood, Josiah Rockwood, Ebenezer Thompson, Nathaniel Whiting 
and Nathaniel Wight. 

POPULATION 

It is probable that at the time of incorporation the Town of Medway had a 
population of nearly 300 people. The first census taken, in the year 1765; gave 
the number of people as 785, including 380 males, 388 females and 17 negroes. 
By this same census there were 123 houses in the town. From that time until 
the present the different census figures have been as follows : 

1776 (Prov.) 912 

1790 (u. s.) ; ' 1,035 

1800 (U. S.) 1,050 

1810 (U. S.) 1,213 

1820 (U. S.) 1,523 

1830 (U. S.) 1,756 

1840 (U. S.) 2,043 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 



193 



1850 (U. S.) 2,778 

1855 (State) 3,230 

i860 (U. S.) 3,195 

1865 (State) 3,219 

1870 (U.S.) 3,721 

1875 (State) 4,242 

1880 (U. S.) 3,956 

1885 (State) 2,777 

1890 (U. S.) 2,985 

1895 (State) 2,913 

1900 (U. S.) 2,761 

1905 ( State ) 2,650 

1910 (U. S.) 2,696 

1915 (State) 2,846 



The total assessed valuation of property in Medway for the year 1915 was 
$1,834,260. 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

The first town meeting of Medway was held on November 23, 1713. The 
principal object of the meeting was to choose officers to serve until the following 
annual election. After making a choice for selectmen, town clerk and constable, 
matters relative to the meeting house were discussed and voted upon. The record 
states this as follows : 

"Voted, That John Rockett and Jonathan Adams, Sr., Serg. Samuel Partridge 
and Serg. Jonathan Adams and Edward Clark to be a committee to take care to 
procure the meeting house built. 

"Voted, that Abraham Harding, Sr., John Partridge and Theophilus Clark to 
procure and carry in a petition to the town clerk of Medfield in order to the pro- 
curing of accomadations for the setting of the meeting house upon the place 
commonly called bare hills, and some convenient accomadations for the min- 
ister thereabouts." 

The above is an example of the character of the town records for the first 
half century of the town's existence. Church matters formed the principal busi- 
ness during this time. 

For the first thirteen years of municipal life the town was not represented in 
the Provincial Court. The town had taken a vote on December 3, 1713, "to send 
none, accounting ourselves not obliged to send any." This rule was followed until 
1726, when the town named Jonathan Adams as the first representative to the 
General Court. 

HIGHWAYS 



When the grants of land were made out to the citizens of Medfield interested 

in the settlement of the new territory, various roads were laid out in order to 

make the land easily accessible. In 1652-3 a road one rod and a half in width 

was laid out from the entrance of Broad Meadows at the south and running 

through the whole to the north end. In 1660, as mentioned before, two highways 
Vol. 1— 1 3 



194 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

were ordered to be laid out through the new grant, dividing the same into three 
sections. The first lot, obtained by Ralph Wheelock, was located just where the 
village of Medway now stands. The records of the town, under date of April 13, 
1 661, state: 

"Whereas the way leading through the new grant from east to west is found 
not passable nor capable of being made so, it is therefore agreed on, and also laid 
out by the men that were deputed thereunto that the way is to assent (ascend) the 
hill by the river and thence to cross the lot of Mr. Ralph Wheelock to the side line 
of John Metcalf, by a little pine standing on a stony ridge and so to turn down 
by John Metcalf's side line to the other way at the head of his lot, which is a matter 
of forty rods and to be four rods wide." At this time there was no road from 
the Great Bridge westward, except that which is described as "the path up into the 
wilderness," which had been surveyed as a highway, part of it being across 
Wheelock's lot. 

The first road laid out after the incorporation of the town is recorded in the 
following manner: 

"Tune 4, 1715. The selectmen met at the house of Nathaniel Wight to lay 
out highways for the benefit of this town, and for the convenience of travelers 
to pass from town to town as follows : begin in the country road that leads to 
Mendon near twenty rods east from Nat Wight's, upon a straight line across part 
of the plain known by the name of Stony Plain, and cross a swamp place com- 
monly called Paradise Island, and by the southeast side of Ebenezer Thompson's 
field on to bare hill along at the southwest end of the meeting house to the laid out 
highway through the plain commonly known by the name of hills." 

The old Mendon road from east to west was laid out in 1670. This was after- 
ward the county road, along which Washington rode on his way to Cam- 
bridge to take command of the American Army in 1775. It is also said that while 
passing through this town he stopped at Richardson's Hotel in the east parish 
to dine. 

By an act of incorporation, passed March 9, 1804, the Hartford and Dedham 
Turnpike Corporation was established. A turnpike was constructed through the 
town from east to west, called the Hartford turnpike. The road was opened for 
travel in 1807 and toll gates built. One was built near the old Hammond Place, 
now marked by the railroad crossing in Millis. Tolls were collected for a score 
of years. 

The Medford turnpike was laid out and established as a public highway June 
4, 1838, and received the name of Main Street. It extended from Medfield to 
Bellingham. The old county road, the oldest highway in the town at present, was 
given the name of Village Street. 

POSTOFFICES 

The first postoffice in the town was established at Medway Village in the spring 
of 1803. Capt. William Felt was appointed the first postmaster. His first quar- 
terly return was made July 1, 1803, Gideon Granger being postmaster-general. 
The office was kept in the store of Captain Felt and the mail was carried by a post 
rider who went over the route once each week. The office was afterward trans- 
ferred to Sanford Hall. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 195 

The second postoffice in the town was established in East Medway (now 
Millis) March 17, 1819. Timothy Hammond was appointed the first postmaster. 
At first the office was kept at the house of Adam Bullard. 

The third postoffice was established September 19, 1834, in West Medway. 
Olney Foristall was the first postmaster here. 

The fourth postoffice in the town was established February 23, 1838, in Rock- 
ville. Deacon Timothy Walker was appointed the first postmaster here. 

MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENT 

From the unimproved lands, ungraded roadways and unsatisfactory buildings 
of the early times the town of Medway has developed into a community of modern 
things, including improved and level roads, well kept estates, excellent business 
blocks and beautiful residences. In scenic beauty Medway is in the first rank of 
Norfolk County towns. Like the neighboring town of Medfield the foresight of 
past generations in matters such as tree planting has been of great benefit to the 
present generation. Water works, electricity and adequate sewerage are but a 
few of the municipal improvements added to Medway within the last forty years. 

Sanford Hall in the village of Medway was erected in the year 1872 at a cost 
of about $16,000. It was dedicated December 31, 1872, and named for the largest 
donor to the building fund, Milton A. Sanford, of New York, who was born in 
Medway. Theodore W. Fisher, M. D., of Boston, gave an historical address on 
the occasion and Rev. R. K. Harlow made the address of dedication. 

Partridge Hall in Millis (then East Medway) was erected in 1876. The build- 
ing of this hall was largely through the efforts and material aid of the family 
whose name it bears today. 

Another feature of the town of Medway is the library known as the Dean 
Public Library, which was founded by Dr. Oliver Dean and incorporated March 3, 
i860. The East Medway Circulating Library was established about forty years 
ago. 

CEMETERIES 

On March 4, 1700, the town of Medfield voted that "the inhabitants on the west 
side of the Charles River shall have two acres of land for a burying place, where 
they and a committee chosen by the selectmen for that end shall order it in any of 
the town commons there." This ground, according to the available records, was 
not laid out until the town was incorporated, but burials were made in 
Medfield and in the southern part of Sherborn. The voters of Medway met at 
the house of Peter Adams, October 29, 17 14, and a vote passed to locate a burying 
ground on Bare Hill, within forty rods of the meeting house. A committee was 
appointed, consisting of George Fairbanks, Zachariah Partridge and John Rich- 
ardson, to confer with the committee from Medfield upon the question of laying 
out this cemetery. This cemetery was the first and for many years the only one in 
the town of Medway. 

The second cemetery laid out was in the west precinct, about the time of the 
erection of the first church in 1750. Oakland Cemetery, near Medway, was the 
third burying ground in the town. This ground was consecrated June 20, 1865. 



196 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

It may be said here that the first burial in Oakland Cemetery was that of Mrs. 
Mary Darling, who died October 26, 1865, at the age of one hundred and two 
years. 

The Catholic Cemetery was located in 1876 a short distance from Oakland. 

ITEMS OF INTEREST 

Wild animals in the earliest days of settlement were a source of constant annoy- 
ance to the settlers. In 1730, in the vicinity of Winthrop Pond, bears became 
troublesome and many hunting parties were organized to search for them. The 
records show that in 1737 Seth Harding was paid one pound for killing a wild 
cat. In 1742 £ig us 6d were ordered to be paid for the slaughter of 817 
squirrels and 684 blackbirds. The last deer killed in the vicinity was in 1747 and 
the last panther was seen about 1790. 

Among the notable men who have been attributed to Medway was William T. 
Adams, author, known by his nom de plume of "Oliver Optic." Oliver Optic was 
born July 30, 1822. He became noted during his productive period as a writer 
of juvenile literature, many of his works now being considered classics in that 
particular style of authorship. 

On March 3, 1792 the bounds between Medway and Sherborn were established. 
On June 25, 1792, a part of Medway was annexed to the town of Franklin. The 
bounds between the latter two towns were fixed on November 13th of the same 
year. On March 3, 1829, the bounds between Medway and Holliston were estab- 
lished and a part of each town was annexed to the other town. Bounds were 
again established between Medway and Franklin on February 23, 1832, and on 
March 13, 1839, part of Franklin was annexed to Medway. On February 23, 1870, 
part was set off to Norfolk, and on February 24, 1885, the eastern part was incor- 
porated as the Town of Millis. 

The records of the town contain many significant items during the time 
of the tea tax, which resulted in the Boston Tea Party. In March, 1770, the 
town voted that the inhabitants "will forbear the purchasing of tea and wholly 
restrain themselves from the use of it, upon which there is a duty laid by the 
Parliament of Great Britain and also that they will forbear the purchasing of 
any goods knowingly, directly or indirectly of any importer — until the revenue 
acts shall be repealed." In December, 1773, the selectmen were ordered to grant 
no favors or privileges to "inn-holders and retailers of strong liquors in this town 
from all such persons that shall buy, use and consume any tea in their homes 
while subject to duties." Throughout the records there are many other items 
which prove the patriotism and loyalty of the town of Medway. The use of 
His Majesty's name was first abolished from the town records in March, 1776. 

The tax list for 1783 contained the names of 216 residents and 98 non- 
residents. The poll tax at this time was 2s 6d. The principal taxpayers were : 
Asa P. Richardson, £1 2s 9d ; Capt. Joseph Lovell, £1 3s 8d ; and Nathaniel 
Lovell, £1 8d. In 1795 Federal money first came into use and the town finances 
were recorded in dollars, cents and mills for the first time. 



CHAPTER XXII 
♦ THE TOWN OF MILLIS 

LOCATION BOUNDARIES SURFACE AND DRAINAGE — FIRST SETTLEMENT DIVISION 

OF MEDWAY THE TOWN NAME — TOWN HALL WATERWORKS FIRE DEPART- 
MENT GENERAL CONDITIONS IN 1917 TOWN OFFICERS. 

The Town of Millis is located in the western part of Norfolk County. It is 
bounded on the north by the Town of Sherborn, Middlesex County ; on the east 
by Medfield ; on the south by Norfolk ; on the west by Medway, and the Town 
of Holliston, Middlesex County, forms a little of the boundary on the northwest. 
The Charles River runs along the southern and eastern borders, separating Millis 
from the towns of Norfolk and Medfield. In the northern part is Boggestow 
Brook, which flows in a general easterly direction to the Charles River, draining 
two or three ponds of considerable size on its course. There are some hills 
in Millis, but they are not so high nor so picturesque as those of some of the 
adjacent towns, and between the hills are fertile valleys that are well adapted 
to the pursuit of agriculture. 

FIRST SETTLEMENT 

The territory now comprising the Town of Millis was originally a part of 
Dedham. When Medfield was incorporated by act of the General Court on May 
22, 1650, it included practically all of Millis. The first settlements were there- 
fore made in this part of Norfolk County long before the Town of Millis was 
even dreamed of by the inhabitants. Among the pioneers were George Fair- 
banks, Nicholas Woods, Daniel Morse, Thomas Holbrook, Thomas Bass, Joseph 
Daniel, John Fussell, Jonathan Adams, Peter Galley, Josiah Rockwood and some 
others, all of whom are mentioned more in detail in the chapter devoted to the 
Town of Medway, of which Millis was a part for nearly one and three-quarters 
centuries. 

DIVISION OF MEDWAY 

For many years the Town of Medway was divided into three communities, 
socially and in a business way, though the people lived under the same town 
government without friction, attending the town meetings and voting upon all 
questions affecting the common welfare. Under the conditions, however, it 
was natural that some of the citizens should become somewhat dissatisfied, and 
in 1884 the dissatisfaction of those living in the eastern part of the town found 
expression in the following petition for division : 

197 



198 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

"To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts, in General Court assembled: 

"The undersigned petitioners, citizens of Medway, respectfully represent 
that the interests and convenience of a large number of the citizens of said town 
would be promoted by the incorporation of the easterly part of said town into 
a new town; wherefore, the undersigned respectfully petition that all the terri- 
tory within said town comprised within the following limits, that is to say : 
Beginning at a stone bound at an angle in the boundary line between the towns 
of Medway and Holliston about sixty rods distant from Orchard Street and 
near the 'Nathan Plympton place,' so called ; thence southerly in a straight line 
to the southeasterly corner of Farm and Village streets ; thence continuing in 
the same course to the bank of the Charles River; thence following the present 
boundary lines between the Town of Medway and the towns of Norfolk, Med- 
field, Sherborn and Holliston to the above mentioned stone bound, the place of 
beginning, may be set off and incorporated into a town by the name of 'Millis.' " 

This petition was signed by E. S. Fuller, E. L. Holbrook, G. F. Holbrook, 
Elbridge Clark, E. O. Jameson, John Bullard, Timothy Bullard, Frank E. Cook, 
Israel D. Fuller, Edwin Metcalf, Austin Metcalf, Lansing Millis, "and 125 others." 

When it was learned by the people living in the central and western portions 
of the town that this movement was on foot, they circulated a counter petition, 
which was also addressed to the Legislature, and which was as follows : 

"The undersigned, legal voters of the Town of Medway, in said Common- 
wealth, in view of the possible division of the town, upon petition to be presented 
to your Honorable Body of citizens of East Medway, so called, respectfully 
represent that the population of the Town of Medway is substantially divided 
into three distinct communities in all their social and business relations, and 
your petitioners, therefore, respectfully pray that the town may be divided into 
three corporate and distinct towns, upon lines of division substantially in accord- 
ance with such as have for many years marked their social and business interests, 
to wit : 

"That East Medway be incorporated as prayed for in the petition referred to, 
embracing the territory of Medway westward to a line from a point on the 
Charles River extending northerly to the boundary of Holliston. 

"That West Medway, so called, include the territory of Medway extending 
eastward to a line commencing at a point on said Charles River at or near the 
junction with said river on the Lone Star Brook from Franklin ; thence northerly 
crossing Village and Main streets to Hill Street at the Holliston boundary line, 
near the house of John Sullivan, in nearly a straight course. 

"And that Medway proper remain constituted with the territory and popula- 
tion lying between and residing upon the same between the two lines as previously 
described and as will more fully appear by a plan of the same to be submitted 
to your Honorable Body. And in duty bound will ever pray." 

This petition, dated "Medway, October 20, 1884," was signed by M. M. Fisher, 
E. A. Daniels, Jesse K. Snow, Edward Fennessy, James O'Donnell, E. C. Wilson, 
W. H. Carey, Clark Partridge, C. S. Philbrick, Henry S. Partridge, "and 193 
others." Notwithstanding the fact that it bore a much larger number of signa- 
tures, the petitioners for the Town of Millis remained steadfast in their work. 
Their petition was published in four successive issues of the "Medway Magnet," 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 199 

was sworn to before William A. Wyckoff, a justice of the peace, on December 
2, 1884, and was immediately afterward filed in the office of the secretary of 
state. In due time it came before the Legislature, which evidently took the view 
that it would be impracticable to divide the Town of Medway into three towns, 
for on February 10, 1885, a bill was introduced in the senate providing for the 
incorporation of the Town of Millis, upon the boundaries asked for by the 
petitioners. Two days later it passed the senate and was sent to the house, where 
it passed the final stages on the 19th and was approved by the governor on the 
24th. Millis therefore dates its corporate existence from February 24, 1885. 

THE TOWN NAME 

The town takes its name from the Millis family, members of which were 
influential in securing its incorporation. The Boston & Woonsocket division of 
the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad runs through the town, and 
after it was organized the name of East Medway was changed to Millis. Henry 
L. Millis was particularly active in promoting the fortunes of the new town. 

TOWN HALL 

A short distance northeast of Millis, which is the municipal center of the 
town, is the railroad station of Clicquot. Not long after the town was incorporated, 
Henry L. Millis made an arrangement with the New York, New Haven & Hart- 
ford Railroad Company to erect a building, the lower story of which should 
be used for railroad purposes and the upper story for a town hall and public 
library. Mr. Millis then conceived the idea of communicating with all natives 
or former residents and asking each one to contribute a stone for the building. 
The result was that quite a number responded to his request, and the walls of 
the town hall and railroad station are constructed of boulders from almost every 
state in the Union. Some of the stones bear suitable inscriptions, showing from 
whence they came and who were their donors. The boulders of different hues 
and texture give the building a unique appearance rarely to be found in a public 
edifice. The hall is centrally located and the town's portion of the structure 
was donated by Mr. Millis. 

WATERWORKS 

The Millis waterworks, now the property of the town, were also built by 
Henry L. Millis, but were sold to the town some years later, a bond issue of 
$30,000 being authorized to pay for them. Since the purchase by the town 
the mains have been extended in several districts, at a cost of $24,380. The 
principal of these extensions is that to Rockville, where a standpipe was erected, 
the total cost of the improvement being $16,500. Regarding the matter of exten- 
sions, at a town meeting held on February 14, 1916, it was voted: "That the 
water commissioners, with three others nominated from the floor, investigate 
and report at the next town meeting rules to govern all extensions of water pipes 
in the Town of Millis." 

The three men appointed to act with the commissioners were Harold P. Wil- 



200 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Hams, Osgood T. Dean and Frank S. Hoff. On March 31, 1916, the committee 
made a report to a town meeting, a portion of which report was as follows: 
"The committee believes that property owners who own property outside of the 
so-called water district should be afforded the privilege of obtaining Town water 
on a reasonable basis. At the same time the committee realizes that in most 
cases the cost of extending the water system to outlying properties is dispropor- 
tionate to the income derived from the use of the water, and is greatly in excess 
of installing the water supply within said water district. 

"It seems reasonable, therefore, to the committee, that property owners who 
desire an extension of the water system for their benefit outside of this water 
district should pay for a reasonable period a sum in excess of that charged to 
takers within said water district. The committee feels that if an annual sum, 
equal to six per cent of the cost of extending the system, is paid by the takers 
for a period of ten years from the time of installation, this sum would pay for 
the water used during the same period and would also reimburse the town to 
some extent for interest paid on moneys expended in making such extension. 
As it is the belief of the committee that this six per cent guar- 
anteed payment will, to some extent, recompense the town for the expense of 
extension of its water system, the committee recommends that, where there is 
more than one taker of water on any extension, all of the takers on such exten- 
sion shall jointly pay a sum equal to six per cent of the investment of the town 
in the extension, and if the quantity of water taken on any extension is sufficient, 
if paid for at the regular water rate, to pay the town a sum equal to said six 
per cent on its investment, that all water taken above such quantity shall be paid 
for at the regular water rates ; it being the belief of the committee that the town 
should in any event receive a sum equal to six per cent, and as much more as the 
quantity of water used would enable it to receive, charging for said water at 
the regular rate." 

In connection with the purchase of the waterworks by the town, it is worthy 
of note that a sinking fund was established for the redemption of the bonds 
when they fall due in 1925. As the sinking fund accumulated, it was loaned 
to the town. At the close of the year 1916 the town was the borrower of $12,180 
of this fund. Thus the town is paying itself interest upon its own money, an 
arrangement which is regarded as being much better than paying interest to 
outside money lenders. The amount of water pumped in 1916 was 15,694,070 
gallons, the receipts for which amounted to $3,387.29. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

The' Millis Fire Department is a volunteer organization. Part of the equip- 
ment originally was inherited from the old Town of Medway, when the property 
of that town was divided with Millis under the act of February 24, 1885. At 
the town meeting on February 14, 1916, a committee previously appointed to 
investigate the conditions of the Rockville Fire Company, reported in favor of 
the erection of a building for that company, "at a cost of $700, as the town is 
paying fifty dollars rental for a building that is not fit for the purpose." The 
report was accepted and adopted, and the house was erected during the year. 

In their annual report for the year 1916, the board of fire engineers, consisting 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 201 

of Charles LaCroix, J. C. Thorne and Albion K. P. Barton, reported that the 
department had answered fourteen calls during the year. The appropriation 
for the support of the department for the year was $1,000. 

FINANCIAL 

In 1916 the valuation of the property, as fixed by the board of assessors, 
was $1,556,872. According to the treasurer's report, the liabilities of the town 
on December 31, 1916,. amounted to $80,230. Of these liabilities the principal 
items were as follows : 

Water bonds, due December 1, 1925 $30,000 

School bonds, due annually to 1933 17,850 

Water Extension bonds 13,500 

Sinking Fund notes 12,180 

All other obligations 6,700 

Total $80,230 

Millis has never been niggardly in the matter of public improvements, but 
from the time the town was organized in 1885 to the present day the people have 
exercised good judgment in making appropriations. The expenditures for the 
year 1916 were as follows: 

Notes paid during the year $20,124.50 

Schools 1 1,587.1 1 

Streets and Highways 7,956.29 

Interest on Town Debt 3,029.40 

Poor Department 1,307.78 

Moth Department 1,262.26 

Fire Department 843.96 

Incidentals (including salaries) 2,817.04 

All other expenditures 8,361.65 

Total $57,289.99 

GENERAL CONDITIONS IN 1917 

In 1910 the United States census reported the population of Millis as 1,399, 
only two towns in the county (Dover and Norfolk) showing a smaller number 
of inhabitants. The state census of 191 5 gave Millis a population of 1,442, a 
gain of only 43 in five years. Besides the division of the New York, New 
Haven & Hartford Railroad above mentioned, Millis is connected with Dedham 
on the east, and Milford on the west by an electric railway. Electric railways 
that connect with this line afford easy transportation to a number of the adjacent 
towns. The principal manufacturing concerns are a large boot and shoe factory 
and the Clicquot Club ginger ale works, one of the largest of the kind in the 
country. Near this factory the railroad company has established a station to 
which has been given the name of "Clicquot." Both station and factory are about 
half a mile northeast of the Village of Millis. 



202 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

The principal town officers at the beginning of the year 1917 were: Michael 
H Clancy, Horace M. Cushman and George G. Hoff, selectmen; Louis LaCroix, 
clerk • Evan F. Richardson, treasurer ; J. A. Cole, Frank S. Harding and Moses 
C Adams assessors ; Ernest L. Hill, Herbert H. Thorne and Frank S. Harding, 
overseers of the poor; Charles LaCroix, George G. HofT and Michael H. Clancy, 
water commissioners; J. Clarence Thorne, tax collector; Lawrence J. Reardon,, 
auditor; Edward LaCroix, J. A. Cole and J. C. Thorne, school committee; Cor- 
nelius J. Erisman and William H. Thorne, constables. 



CHAPTER XXIII 
THE TOWN OF MILTON 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES — TOPOGRAPHY — WHITE OCCUPATION — THE TOWN IN- 
CORPORATED THE TOWN NAME EARLY TAVERNS TOWN HALL POSTOFFICES 

WATERWORKS — FIRE DEPARTMENT — FINANCIAL HISTORY — A FEW FIRST THINGS 
— OLD FAMILIES MILTON IN I917 — TOWN OFFICERS. 

Milton, the sixth town to be incorporated within the present limits of Nor- 
folk County, is situated northeast of the center of the county and extends north- 
ward to the Suffolk County line. It is bounded on the north by the City of 
Boston; on the east by Quincy ; on the south and southwest by Randolph and 
Canton ; and on the west by the Town of Hyde Park, which is now within the 
Boston city limits. 

TOPOGRAPHY 

Of all the towns of Norfolk County, Milton is preeminently the "town of 
hills." The Blue Hill range, composed of the highest elevations in Eastern 
Massachusetts, passes through the town. Except small patches, interspersed 
here and there among the hills, there is practically no level land. The soil of 
these small level tracts is a deep, heavy loam, quite fertile and productive. The 
Blue Hill Reservation, comprising the principal elevations of the Blue Hill range, 
has been set apart by the state as a tract for the recreation and edification of 
the people, and is under the control of the Metropolitan Park Commission. 

The Neponset is the principal watercourse connected with the drainage system 
of the town. Its largest tributary in Milton is the Pine Tree Brook, which has 
its source in a pond fed by several small streams in the western part of the town. 
Its general course is easterly until it empties into the Neponset, not far from 
the Central Avenue bridge. Balster's and Cook's brooks flow into the Pine Tree 
Brook. 

Unquaty or Gulliver's Brook rises near the Milton Cemetery and flows east- 
wardly to the harbor. It derives its name from Anthony Gulliver, who was 
born in England in 1619 and died in Milton in 1706. It is said that Dean Swift 
got the suggestion of his "Gulliver's Travels" from a member of this family. 
Jonathan Gulliver, a son of Anthony, was a member of the Massachusetts General 
Court in 1727. 

Blue Hill River, a branch of the Monatiquot, a small, crooked stream, forms 
the boundary line between Milton and Randolph. On some maps this river is 
called the Monatiquot. It receives the waters of Silver Brook, which rises on 
the east side of the Great Blue Hill and flows in a southerly direction, draining 
Houghton's Pond in the course of its meanderings. 

203 



204 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

WHITE OCCUPATION 

In 1630 Gov. John Winthrop arrived in the Massachusetts Bay colony with 
the charter. During the next three years there was a heavy emigration from 
England to the New World. In 1633 the name of Israel Stoughton first appears 
in the Dorchester records as a grantee of lands lying within the present Town 
of Milton. For his residence tract he selected 101 acres on the south side of 
the Neponset River, described as the "Indian Fields." His tract included nearly 
the whole of Milton Hill, extending along the river from the lower falls to the 
bend where Briggs' shipyard was afterward located. In 1656 this land was 
sold by the heirs of Israel Stoughton to John Gill. 

Associated with Mr. Stoughton (doubtless stockholders of the company before 
leaving England) were John Glover and William Hutchinson. Mr. Glover 
selected a tract of 180 acres directly south of Milton Hill, bordered on the north- 
west by the brook. His land was occupied by his agent or tenant, Nicholas Wood, 
until it was sold by the Glover heirs in 1654 to Robert Vose. 

Mr. Hutchinson laid out a large tract, which included a portion of Milton, 
though the greater part of it was in Braintree. In 1656 his son, Capt. Edward 
Flutchinson, sold the land to Anthony Gulliver, Henry Crane and Stephen 
Kingsley. 

In 1636 the Town of Dorchester obtained a grant of land which embraced 
nearly the entire present Town of Milton. At that time it was customary, in 
occupying a new territory, to obtain a release of the Indian title. Accordingly, 
on October 8, 1636, Chief Kitchamakin of the Massachusett Indians, a brother 
of Chickatabot, granted and sold to Richard Collicott of Dorchester, "all that 
tract beyond the Mill within ye bounds of Dorchester for them and their heirs 
for ever — only reserving for my own use and for my men forty acres where I 
like best & in case I & they leave it the same alsoe to belong untoe Dorchester, 
giving some consideration for the paines Bestowed upon it," etc. 

For this tract of land James M. Robbins, in an address delivered on the 
occasion of Milton's two hundredth anniversary, June 11, 1862, says Kitchamakin 
received "twenty-eight fathoms of wampum." He and his men continued to 
occupy the reservation until 1657, when they removed to the country about 
Ponkapog Pond, now in the Town of Canton. 

An old map or plan of the purchase, made by John Oliver, shows the names 
of the landowners at the time it was prepared. The map bears no date, but as 
John Oliver died in 1646, it must have been made prior to that time. Upon it 
appear the names of Israel Stoughton, Richard Collicott, John Glover, William 
Hutchinson, John Holman, Robert Badcock, Nehemiah Bourne, William Daniels, 
Nicholas Ellen, Thomas Lewis, Anthony Newton, Andrew Pitcher, Bray Wilkins 
and William Salsbury. 

Among these early settlers or landowners (a few of them did not occupy 
their holdings) the names of Richard Collicott and John Holman appear most 
frequently in the records, indicating that they were active in shaping the destinies 
of the new plantation. Collicott was "a licensed fur dealer," an occupation 
which brought him into intimate commercial relations with the Indians and 
doubtless explains why he was selected to negotiate the deal with the chief for 
possession of the land. He built his house on what is now Adams Street in 1634. 
It was of the style known as a "garrisoned house" and was used later by the 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 205 

Town of Dorchester as a "guard house." Mr. Collicott served on the board of 
selectmen in Dorchester from 1637 to 1641 ; was a deputy to the General Court 
in 1637 ; was first sergeant of the Dorchester Artillery Company, and was other- 
wise prominent in town affairs. He died at Boston in 1686. 

John Holman received a grant of no acres adjoining that of Collicott and 
settled there soon afterward, the property remaining in his family for nearly a 
century. He served several terms as one of Dorchester's selectmen; was one of 
the original members of the "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company"; ensign 
of the first Artillery Company of Dorchester, and identified with many of the 
early events in Milton. His death occurred in 1652. 

THE TOWN INCORPORATED 

For a little more than a quarter of a century after Dorchester received the 
grant of land south of the Neponset River and Mr. Collicott obtained the relin- 
quishment of the Indian title, the region now embraced within the Town of Mil- 
ton remained a part of Dorchester. By that time a number of families had gone 
into the new grant and developed farms, and in the autumn of 1661 a movement 
was started for the organization of a new town. It seems that Dorchester 
offered no opposition and the following petition was presented to the General 
Court : 

"To the Hono d Gene 11 Court now assembled att Boston 7th May 1662 : The 
humble petition of us who are Inhabitants of that parte of ye Towne of Dor- 
chester which is sittuated on the south side of ye Naponsett River commonly 
called Unquatiquisset Humbly showeth that ffor as much as it hath pleased God 
for to cast the bounds of our habitations in ye more remote partes of Dorchester 
Town as that we stand in a more remote capacitie unto a constant & comfortable 
attendance upon such administrations as doe respect sivill and ecclesiasticall com- 
munion in ye sayde Towne of Dorchester. 

"Yet notwithstanding ye difficulties & allmost impossibilityes of ye constant 
attendance of us & our familyes have compelled not only our selves but allsoe 
ye Towne of Dorchester to acknowledge some necessitie of providing & settling 
a public ministry amongst our selves. And to that Purpose ye Towne of Dor- 
chester (divers years since) granted us Libertie by our own contribution to 
maintayne our own Ministry. But we finding by experience that the orderly 
managing of such an Affair as Settlement hath some dependence upon ye exer- 
cise of Sivill Power unto ye effectual exercise of Which (as to ye attaynement 
of such an end) we find our selves alltogether out of a capacitie as now we stand 
therefore we have obtayned from ye Towne of Dorchester a second graunt lib- 
ertie to become a Township of our selves — a coppie of which graunt we here 
withall present to the view of the Hon ble Court. 

"Our humble petition to this Hon ble Court therefore is that (If according to 
ye terms & tenor of this graunt you shall in your wisdom judge us capable of 
being a Township) you would please by your authoritie to confirm the sd graunt 
unto us. And it beeing a more than ordinarie juncture of affaires with us as to 
our present Settlement we doe allsoe humbly crave our freedom from country 
rates according to the accustomed graunt to new Plantations we beeing (by 
Reason of our slowness & ye strait limitts of our place as unable ffor Publick 
Affayres as if we were a new Plantation). 



206 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

"This cur humble petition is — If it shall bee by this Honor d Court accepted 
wee hope wee shall doe what in us lyes to mannage affayres in our comunitie 
according to the laws of God & this Goverment out present design beeing the 
promotion of ye Public weale which that it may bee the period of your Consul- 
tations. So pray your humble petitioners. 

"STEPHEN KINGSLEY 
"ROBERT VOSE 
"JOHN GILL 

"In the names of all ye rest of ye Inhabitants." 

No time was lost by the Court in the consideration of the petition, for on the 
very day it was presented (May 7, 1662) the township was incorporated. The 
original petition in the state archives bears the indorsment : "The deputyes think- 
meet to graunt this petition, viz. so far as it concernes ye Township but do not 
think meet to exempt them from rates." 

In merely granting the petition the town was left without a name. To rectify 
this oversight the following action was taken later by the Court : "There having 
been granted to the inhabitants of Unketyquisset within ye Township of Dor- 
chester to become a Township of themselves upon motion of your inhabitants it 
is ordered that ye said Town shallbee called Milton." 

Stephen Kingsley, whose name appears as the first of the signers of the peti- 
tion, was ordained a ruling elder of the church in Braintree in 1653. About 
three years later, after he, Henry Crane and Anthony Gulliver had purchased 
the, William Hutchinson grant, he removed to Unketyquisset, where it is stated 
he conducted the first religious services. He quickly became active in local 
affairs and drew up the petition which was signed by himself, Robert Vose and 
John Gill as a committee of the inhabitants, which petition resulted in the 
incorporation of the town as above noted. 

THE TOWN NAME 

The Indian name of the region now included in the Town of Milton was 
Unketyquisset (the name is spelled in various ways), but as that was too un- 
wieldly the General Court adopted the name of Milton, at the request of the inhab- 
itants. Three distinct theories as to the reason for the adoption of this name 
have been presented. The first says the town was named in honor of John 
Milton, the celebrated English poet, who in 1662 was at the zenith of his fame. 
The second says it was named from the old mill (Mill Town), which was erected 
by the inhabitants of Dorchester on the Neponset River in 1633. This was the 
first water-mill in New England. The third theory, which is perhaps the most 
plausible one, is that the town derived its name from Milton, England. There are, 
however, in England and Wales about twenty towns called Milton, or of which 
the word Milton forms some part of the name, and it is impossible to determine 
which one was copied in giving name to the Massachusetts town. 

EARLY TAVERNS 

Soon after the town was incorporated Roger Billings built a large house on 
what is now Canton Avenue and opened a tavern, which in a few years became 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 207 

noted for "its fancy dinners and high living." Mr. Billings died in 1683, when 
the name of the hostelry was changed to "Blue Hill Tavern." The house was 
torn down in 1885 and some of the timbers were used in building a barn. 

The Bent Tavern was opened on the corner of Canton Avenue and Atherton 
Street by Lemuel or Rufus Bent about 1740. About 1790 the name was changed 
to the "Bradlee Tavern," when Stephen Bradlee took possession. He was a son 
of John Bradlee, who settled in Milton some years before the beginning the Revo- 
lution. Stephen Bradlee died in 1803 and the house was kept for some time by 
his widow. Then she married Maj. Jedediah Atherton, who in 1810 built a new 
tavern on the site of the old one and opened it as the "Atherton House." 

White's (later Wild's) Tavern was in existence as early as 1787, for in that 
year there was considerable excitement in the town over the report that a man 
had died of yellow fever at this house. 

Clark's Tavern, on Randolph Avenue, was built in 1809 by Samuel Tucker 
for his son Joshua, who conducted it for several years. Then Minot Thayer pur- 
chased the property and ran the tavern for some time. He was succeeded in 
turn by several other proprietors before the house ceased to be a place of enter- 
tainment for travelers. 

TOWN HALL 

From the time Milton was incorporated until 1835, the town meetings were 
held in the meeting house. In March, 1835, the annual meeting was held in the 
Academy Hall. On August 24, 1836, the trustees of the academy voted to rent 
to the town the lower story of the building for forty dollars a year. A few meet- 
ings were held here, when the selectmen obtained permission to use the old stone 
church known as the "Railway Village Meeting House." Just how many town 
meetings were held in this house is not certain, but in 1837 it was voted to pay 
the trustees of the church $300 for the use of the building. 

At the same time this sum was voted a committee, consisting of John Ruggles, 
Jason Houghton, Jesse Tucker, Moses Gragg, Alva Martin, Walter Cornell and 
Samuel Adams, was appointed "to purchase a piece of land near the center of 
the town and proceed to erect thereon a town house not to exceed 40 by 60 feet, 
one story in height, and at a cost not to exceed $2,500." About that time the 
surplus that had accumulated in the United States Treasury during the adminis- 
tration of President Andrew Jackson was distributed among the states, and by 
the states to the counties and towns. Through this channel Milton received 
$3,424.89, which paid for the lot and town house and left a balance of $589.46 
in the town treasury. This hall served the town for more than forty years. 

At the annual meeting in March, 1878, the town voted an appropriation of 
$35,000 for a new town hall. William H. Forbes, Samuel Gannett, J. H. Wol- 
cott, James M. Robbins, Samuel Babcock, George Vose, Edward L. Pierce, 
Horace E. Ware and Albert K. Teele were appointed a building committee, with 
instructions to procure plans and specifications and superintend the erection 
of the building. The plans selected were those prepared by Hartwell & Tilden, 
architects of Boston. William C. Poland &: Son of Boston were awarded the 
contract for the brick and stone work; Creesey & Noyes of Boston, the car- 
pentry work; J. Farquhar's Sons of Boston, the roofing; and L. Cushman & Son 



208 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

of Waltham, the copper work. The roofing and copper work were afterward 
included in the contract of Creesey & Noyes, as were also the painting and glaz- 
ing, except the interior decorative painting, which was done by W. J. McPherson 
of Boston. The new hall was dedicated on February 17, 1879, Edward L. Pierce 
of the building committee delivering the historical address. The total cost of the 
strucure was $34,959-°9- 

POSTOFFICES 

The first postoffice in the town was established at Milton about the beginning 
of the Nineteenth Century. Owing to the burning of the records at the time of 
the British attack on Washington in the War of 1812, it is impossble to give the 
exact date, but the office was in existence in 1801, with Dr. Samuel R. Glover as 
postmaster. He was succeeded by Moses Whitney in 1805, who held the office 
for some twelve years, when he resigned and Nathan C. Martin was appointed. 

In April, 1872, the postoffice at East Milton was established, with J. W. Bab- 
cock as postmaster, and on April 1, 1874, the Blue Hill postoffice, on Canton 
Avenue near Harland Street, was opened for the receipt and delivery of mail, 
with Stillman J. Tucker as postmaster. This office at first received mail once a 
day through the postoffice at Mattapan. With the introduction of rural free 
delivery the postoffice at Blue Hill was discontinued, leaving but two offices in the 
town at the beginning of the year 1917. 

WATERWORKS 

The system of waterworks in Milton was built by the Milton Water Company 
and was purchased by the town in 1902 for $320,155.02, of which sum $120,546.67 
was applied to the payment of bonds issued by the company prior to the time 
of purchase. The annual appropriations from 1903 to 19 16 inclusive aggregate 
$47,000, but of these appropriations $24,503.64 represents unexpended balances 
that were turned back into the treasury, making the net cost to the town at the 
close of the year 191 6 the sum of $342,651.38. 

Since the plant was purchased by the town the mains have been extended until 
at the beginning of the year 1917 there were a little more than fifty-two miles, 
all of which except about one mile consisted of pipe more than four inches in 
diameter. The number of public hydrants was 401 and the total consumption of 
water for the year 1916 amounted to 135,878,000 gallons. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

On February 24, 1670, a town meeting ordered that every householder should 
have a "lader long enough to reach to ye top of his house by the last day of ye 
Fifth Month, or pay ten shillings for faleure to do so & five shillings a month 
thereafter so longe as he shall neglect to provide sayd lader." • This is the first 
mention of fire protection to be found in the town records, though some precau- 
tion may have been made earlier, as the records for the first eight years are 
missing. 

In 1793 the "Firewards Society of Dorchester and Milton" was organized and 




OLDEST HOUSE IN EAST MILTON 





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OBSERVATORY. BLUE HILL RESERVATION, MILTON 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 209 

Stephen Badlam was elected clerk. The members of the society were exempted 
by the two towns from military duty and the payment of poll tax. The first 
engine was a small affair, filled by leather buckets. Nearly every house had two 
buckets kept in some convenient place, where they could be easily reached in 
case of fire, and a number of buckets was always kept with the engine. 

The first suction engine — the "Fountain" — was kept near the end of the 
bridge, on the Dorchester side of the Neponset River. A little later the "Alert" 
was procured and stationed on the Milton side and there was a friendly rivalry 
between the two companies as to which could respond the more promptly and 
render the better service at a fire. In 1845 a hydrant engine was purchased for 
$1,200 and the same year a hook and ladder company was organized. A supply 
of hose was also purchased for the use of the fire company. Three years later 
the "Ninety's Hose Company" was organized. It is said to have taken its name 
from the "87 Hose Company," mentioned in "Doesticks," a volume published 
about that time. Better fire protection was afforded in 1861 when a line of pipe 
was laid from the mill to Canton Avenue and six hydrants were located thereon. 

In 1881 an engine house was built by the town in the rear of the town hall, 
at a cost of $3,195 and a chemical engine was bought for $2,000 and placed in 
the new house. During the next two years a fire alarm system was installed, and 
at the close of 1883 there were twenty-three miles of wire and eighteen alarm 
boxes. At that time there were six reservoirs, in which water could be stored 
for fire emergencies! — one near the town hall, one on Central Avenue, and the 
other four at points in East Milton. The annual town meeting in 1887 made an 
appropriation for the purchase of a steam fire engine and the erection of an 
engine house at Milton Centre. This was the first steam fire engine introduced in 
the town. 

According to the report of the board of fire engineers for the year ending on 
December 31, 1916, "The apparatus of the department now consists of 1 motor 
ladder truck with chemical tank attachment ; 1 750-gallon capacity motor pump 
engine ; 1 motor combination hose and chemical truck ; totalling a cost to the 
town of $19,450, all of which is housed in the Central Fire Station. The depart- 
ment also maintains horse-drawn combination hose and chemical apparatus at 
both East Milton and Brush Hill." 

During the year 1916 the department answered 131 alarms, besides eight calls 
to Boston and six to Quincy. The value of property involved in the 131 fires in 
the town was $66,160 and the total loss by fire was $5,207.30, on which the prop- 
erty holders recovered insurance of $4,332.30, making the actual fire loss $875 — 
a record rarely equaled by town fire departments. 

FINANCIAL HISTORY 

Milton is the third wealthiest town in Norfolk County, being exceeded in 
this respect only by the Town of Brookline and the City of Quincy. According 
to the report of the assessors for the year 1916, the total valuation of property 
was $35,104,044. This is $1,965,319 lower than the valuation of 1915, but the 
decrease is not due to any real loss of property, being due merely to a readjust- 
ment of assessments by the board of assessors. On December 31, 1916, the 
funded debt of the town was $455,000, distributed as follows : 



210 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

School loans $244,000 

Water bonds outstanding 160,000 

Sewer loans 29,000 

Library loan 1 5,000 

Public Park loans 7,000 

Total $455,000 

Of the school loans, $175,000 was authorized in 1916 for the purpose of erect- 
ing a new high school building. On the other side of the ledger the town prop- 
erty was valued as follows : 

School buildings and contents $ 273,890 

Public Library and contents 137,318 

Police Station and contents 35,3°4 

Other buildings and contents 167,947 

Cemetery 50,000 

Public grounds and parks 36,000 

Other real estate 19,700 

Waterworks 315,000 

Total $1,035,159 

In addition to this municipal property, the treasurer reported assets consisting 
of cash on hand and uncollected assessments of $201,167. If this De added to 
the $1,035,159 representing the value of buildings, etc., the town has total assets 
of $1,236,326, or nearly three dollars for every dollar of the funded debt. Surely 
the holder of Milton's obligations need feel no anxiety as to the safety of his 
securities. The total appropriations made by the annual meeting in 1916 
amounted to $397,705, to wit : 

Highway construction $ 50,000 

Highway maintenance 30,300 

Sprinkling and oiling streets 10,000 

Sidewalks 5,000 

Police department 33> 2 45 

Fire department 2 4,7/0 

Water department 14,400 

Schools 96,300 

Poor 7,000 

Public Library 10,000 

Street lighting I7,9 2 3 

Interest 1 1,079 

Salaries 10,800 

Public parks 3,600 

Miscellaneous 73,288 

< 

Total $397705 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 211 

In a majority of the cases, as shown by the above table, the appropriations 
were in excess of the actual necessities, and the auditor, in his financial statement 
at the close of the year, reported unexpended balances amounting to $180,007. 
This shows that while the people of Milton are liberal in giving support to the 
town's institutions, the officials who have charge of the disbursement of public 
funds have been governed by reasonable concern for the interests of the tax- 
payers of the town, and that they have used good business judgment in making 
their contracts and purchases. 

A FEW FIRST THINGS 

The first birth recorded in the town records is that of Elizabeth, daughter of 
Thomas Swift, who was born on August 21, 1662. 

The earliest recorded marriage was solemnized on November 30, 1671, when 
Ale Caig became the wife of Samuel Pilcher, though it is quite certain that this 
was not the first in the town — being only the first on record. 

The first recorded death is that of Robert, son of Edward Vose, who died on 
November n, 1667. An infant son of John Keney died two days later. 

The first mention of a school is in the records for March 4, 1669, when 
"Ebenezer Tucker was chose Scoole Master for the west end of the Town." 

The first sermon was preached by Rev. Stephen Kingsley, but Rev. Joseph 
Emerson was the first regularly licensed clergyman to hold religious services in 
the town. 

The first powder mill in this section of the colony was ordered in August, 
1673. A company was at that time organized by Rev. John Oxenbridge and Rev. 
James Allen, pastor and teacher respectively of the First Church in Boston, 
Robert Sanderson, Capt. John Hull and Freegrace Bendall to build a mill for 
the manufacture of gunpowder. They brought over from England Walter 
Everendon as superintendent, and the mill was located just south of the Neponset 
bridge, on the Milton side of the river. At the time of King Philip's war the 
General Court ordered "a constant watch to be kept at Unkety for the preserva- 
tion of the powder mill and the grist mill in its immediate vicinity." 

The first pound was built in 1670 on Mr. Cushing's land near the present 
White Street. 

The first paper mill was started in January, 1728, and the first chocolate mill 
in the fall of 1764. The first violoncello was made by Benjamin Crehore in 1798, 
and the first piano by the same man two years later. 

OLD FAMILIES 

One little passage in the historical address of Edward L. Pierce at the dedica- 
tion of the town hall, February 17, 1879, 1S worthy of more than passing notice. 
Said he : "There has been a continuity in the life of this town rare in municipal 
history. Growing in population by natural increase rather than by accessions 
from other places, there has been a steady flow of influence and character from 
one generation to another. Eight of the original trustees, to whom, in 1664, a 
tract of land was conveyed for a meeting house and other ministerial purposes, 
have always since had and still have descendants in the town bearing their names, 



212 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

and in some instances living upon and holding, without break in the chain of 
title, their ancestral acres — the Voses, Wadsworths, Tuckers, Sumners, Gullivers, 
Babcocks, Swifts and Cranes." 

MILTON IN I917 

In 1910 the population of Milton, according to the United States census, 
was 7,924. The state census of 1915 reports it as 8,600, and in 1916 the superin- 
tendent of the waterworks estimates it at 8,933. These figures show a steady 
gain in the number of inhabitants, much of which is due as Mr. Pierce said in 
his address to "natural increase." Of the families mentioned by him, six were 
represented in the tax list for 1916, the Cranes and Gullivers being the only ones 
missing. 

Milton has two banks, one of which has been in existence for nearly a century, 
a weekly newspaper (the Record), several churches, some manufacturing inter- 
tests, steam and electric railway transportation, and is one of the most desirable 
residence towns in the county. 

Following is a list of the principal town officers at the beginning of the year 
1917: James S. Russell, Maurice A. Duffy and James P. Mitchell, selectmen and 
surveyors of highways; G. Frank Kemp, clerk; J. Porter Holmes, treasurer; 
Clarence Boylston, William W. Churchill and Charles H. Home, assessors ; 
Josiah Babcock, tax collector ; J. H. Raymond and Frederick N. Krim, auditors ; 
Theodore T. Whitney, Jr., Howard Leslie and Thomas B. Gordon, water com- 
missioners; Albert D. Smith, Arthur H. Tucker, Walter D. Brooks, Horace N. 
Plummer and Caroline E. Williams, overseers of the poor; Bernard W. Trafford, 
Malcolm Donald and J. Sumner Draper, park commissioners; Harris Kennedy, 
H. B. Edwards, Frank P. Fanning, Stephen C. Mitchell, Reginald L. Robbins and 
Eva B. Churchill, school committee; Maurice Pierce, Peleg Bronsdon, Timothy 
McDermott and George W. Higgins, constables ; Philip S. Dalton, James S. 
Gallagher and J. H. Holmes, fire engineers. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
THE TOWN OF NEEDHAM 

ORIGINALLY PART OF DEDHAM — LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES — SURFACE — INDIAN 
OCCUPATION — FIRST SETTLEMENT — PETITION TO BE SET OFF AS A TOWN — THE 

TOWN INCORPORATED — FIRST TOWN MEETING CHANGING THE BOUNDARIES — 

TOWN HALL WATERWORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT ELECTRIC LIGHT POSTOF- 

FICES — A HISTORIC MONUMENT — TOWN SEAL — MODERN NEEDHAM. 

The territory now comprising the Town of Needham was included in Dedham 
when the latter was incorporated on September 8, 1636, and remained a part of 
that town for three-quarters of a century. Needham is situated in the northerly 
part of the county, in a bend of the Charles River. On the northwest it is 
bounded by Wellesley ; on the northeast by the Charles River, which separates it 
from the City of Boston ; and also on the southerly side by the Charles River, 
which there separates it from the towns of Dedham and Dover. That portion 
of Dedham known as "Dedham Island," lying on the opposite side of the Charles 
River from the main part of the town, forms a small part of Needham's boundary 
line on the southeast. There are several small streams in the town, all tributary to 
the Charles River. They rise in the central part and flow in nearly all directions, 
which indicates the general character of the surface. 

INDIAN OCCUPATION 

At the time Dedham was incorporated, and for many years afterward, the 
land in what is now Needham was claimed by the Indians. On April 14, 1680, 
a deed was executed by William Nahaton (sometimes written Nehoiden) and 
his brothers and sfsters to "a parcel or tract of land as it lieth towards the north- 
erly side of Dedham, by the Great Falls of the Charles River, to the Natic saw 
mill brook," etc. About a year later, April 18, 1681, John Magus, a minor chief 
living at Natick, and his wife, Sara Magus, relinquished all their claims to "the 
whole parcel or tract of land as it lieth in Dedham bounds," etc. The tract thus 
deeded to the white inhabitants was known as "Magus Hill" and included the 
present towns of Needham and Natick and that part of Dedham called Dedham 
Island. The consideration received by Magus and his wife was five pounds in 
money and Indian corn to the value of three pounds — a total of about forty 
dollars. The same lands today are worth several millions of dollars. 

FIRST SETTLEMENT 

It is uncertain just when or by whom the first settlement was made in Need- 
ham, but it was no doubt soon after the extinguishment of the Indian title, as 

213 



214 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

mentioned in the foregoing paragraph. The records of a Dedham town meeting 
held in March, 1694, bear evidence that a settlement of some kind existed in 
the vicinity of Magus Hill. On July 2, 1705, the Dedham selectmen granted 
one Benjamin Mills a license "to keep a public house near the Lower Falls," 
and on March 9, 1709, the settlers living on the opposite side of the Charles 
River from Dedham Village petitioned the town for a grant of eight pounds 
to pay a minister for three months, which request the records show was granted. 
There must have been a considerable number of inhabitants at that time, or 
the grant would hardly have been made. It is not probable that a meeting 
house had then been erected, but that the preaching was to be done at a pioneer 
school house, or in the homes of some of the inhabitants. A little more than a year 
later the people of what is now Needham took the first steps to have a town of 
their own established, by petitioning the General Court to that effect. 

THE PETITION 

The petition asking for the incorporation, which was presented to the General 
Court in May, 1710, was signed by Henry Alden, Samuel Bacon, Hezekiah Broad, 
Edward Cook, Robert Cook, Andrew Dewing, Andrew Dewing, Jr., Jonathan 
Dewing, John Fisher, John Fisher, Jr., Thomas Fuller, Robert Fuller, John Gill, 
Joseph Hawes, Stephen Hunting, Eleazer Kingsbury, James Kingsbury, Josiah 
Kingsbury, Timothy Kingsbury, John Mclntire, Thomas Metcalf, Benjamin Mills, 
Benjamin Mills, Jr., William Mills, Zechariah Mills, Richard More, Matthias Ock- 
inton, Isaac Parker, Jonathan Parker, John Parker, John Parker, Jr., Samuel 
Parker, Christopher Smith, John Smith, Joshua Smith, Andrew Wadkins, Ebe- 
nezer Ware, Ephraim Ware, Jeremiah Woodcock and John Woodcock. 

Opposition to the petition developed in the Town of Dedham, which appointed 
a committee to appear at the October session of the General Court and show why 
the petition should not be granted. The effect of this move on the part of the 
mother town was that the General Court declined to grant the prayer of the 
petitioners at that time, but advised the people of Dedham to exempt them 
from paying taxes for the support of the minister at Dedham, provided they 
would undertake to have religious sendees among themselves and to employ a 
minister to conduct such services. This advice was accepted by a town meeting 
held in Dedham on November 13, 1710, and on the 19th of March following still 
further encouragement was given by the proprietors of undivided land in Dedham 
setting apart two lots of land (about one hundred and thirty-three acres) to be 
used by the settlers of Needham for the support of the ministry. This placed the 
inhabitants of Needham in the position of a separate precinct, although such 
precinct was not organized under the laws of the colony. 

THE TOWN INCORPORATED 

The people of the little settlement northwest of the Charles River were not 
satisfied, however, with their quasi-precinct organization and during the summer 
and early fall of 171 1 another petition asking the General Court to incorporate 
"that portion of Dedham lying north of the Charles River as a separate town," 
was circulated and signed by most of the inhabitants. This petition came before 




PIBLIC LIBRARY, NEEDHAM 




TOWN HALL, XKKDHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 215 

the General Court at the fall session, and on November 5, 171 1, it was granted, 
"the new town to be known as Needham." 

Concerning the name of the town, Rev. Stephen Palmer, in a historical address 
delivered by him at the centennial celebration of the town in 181 1, said: "I have 
been informed by one of the descendants of the venerable Timothy Dwight, of 
Dedham, who was a member of the Legislature when this town was incorporated, 
that it was named Needham at the request of Governor Dudley after Needham 
in England, and because that town is near to Dedham, although in a different 
county." 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

Needham's first town meeting was held on December 4, 171 1, when the fol- 
lowing officers were elected : Timothy Kingsbury, John Fisher, Benjamin Mills, 
John Smith and Robert Cook, selectmen ; Timothy Kingsbury, clerk ; Robert Cook, 
treasurer. On May 19, 171 2, Robert Cook was elected as the first representative 
to the General Court. The only other business transacted at the meeting of 
December 4, 171 1, besides the election of officers, was the appointment of a com- 
mittee to select a suitable place for a burial ground. The committee was com- 
posed of the selectmen, Jonathan Gay, Jeremiah Woodcock, Thomas Metcalf 
and Eleazer Kingsbury. 

CHANGING THE BOUNDARIES 

As established in 171 1, Needham included the present Town of Wellesley 
and a part of Natick. On October 3, 1774, the westerly part was set off as a 
precinct and about four years later was organized as a separate parish. Natick 
was set off from Dedham in 1781. By an act of the General Court in 1797, the 
tract known as the "Needham Leg," containing 1,656 acres, was added to Natick, 
but Needham received in return 404 acres from Natick in another place, the 
change making both the towns of better shape. On June 21, 1803, the Turtle 
Island, at the Upper Falls of the Charles River, was taken from Needham and 
annexed to Newton. The Town of Wellesley was set off" on April 6, 1881, reduc- 
ing Needham to its present dimensions. 

TOWN HALL 

In the erection of the Town of Wellesley in 1881, the town hall that had served 
Needham for a number of years went to the new town. Needham received from 
Wellesley about thirty thousand dollars, which was applied chiefly to the pay- 
ment of the town debt. Town meetings were held in hired halls for about 
twenty years, but on November 26, 1901, a committee was appointed to consider 
the advisability of building a new town hall. The committee made a report in 
favor of such a movement, and on March 17, 1902, the following building com- 
mittee was appointed : Rodman P. Snelling, Daniel W. Richards, Emery Grover, 
John E. Buckley and Harrie S. Whittemore. Plans were made by Winslow & 
Bigelow, architects, and the contract was awarded to Mead, Mason & Company. 
The corner-stone was laid by the Masonic fraternity on September 2, 1902, and 



216 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the building was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on the evening of Decem- 
ber 22, 1903. The cost, including the furnishings, was $57,500. The structure 
stands on the common, so that nothing was paid for land. It is one of the best 
appointed town halls in the county. The ceremony of the corner-stone laying 
was made a part of "Needham Old Home Week" and was attended by a large 
concourse of people. 

WATERWORKS 

In March, 1887, a committee, consisting of Dr. Albert E. Miller, C. A. Hicks, 
Thomas F. Peabody, James E. Cahill and William Carter, was appointed to inves- 
tigate the sources of a water supply and report at a subsequent meeting. The 
following July an appropriation of $500 was made for the use of the committee, 
and on March 8, 1888, an act was approved authorizing the town to issue bonds 
to the amount of $75,000, to establish a system of waterworks. Later acts author- 
ized bond issues aggregating $280,000. One provision of the act of 1888 was 
that it was not to become effective until approved by a vote of two-thirds of 
the legal voters of the town. On November 7, 1889, the necessary two-thirds 
vote was obtained, the proposition having twice been defeated, and on December 
3, 1889, the first board of water commissioners was elected, viz. : John Moseley, 
John M. Hodge and James Mackintosh. 

During the summer and fall of 1890 the waterworks were sufficiently com- 
pleted to furnish water to the more densely populated parts of the town, the 
supply being taken from Colburn Spring. In October, 1897, a water reservation 
was established by the purchase of the Colburn farm of seventy-three and a half 
acres, and the first well was sunk soon afterward. Well No. 2 was added in 
1900 and in 1902 the Hicks Spring, with seven acres adjoining, was added to 
the reservation. By 1905 the water mains were extended to all parts of the town. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

The first official mention in the Needham records regarding fire protection 
is in the minutes of the meeting of March 4, 1833, when George W. Hoogs, 
William Flagg, William Pierce, David C. Mills, Tyler Pettee and Elisha Lyon 
were elected firewards. During the next five years volunteer companies were 
evidently organized, as on April 3, 1838, the town voted to exempt engine men 
from poll tax. In 1840 the town voted to "furnish a hose carriage for the use 
of the engine company at the Lower Falls, the cost not to exceed thirty-five 
dollars." Three years later Colonel Rice, William Flagg, Lyman Greenwood, 
Galen Orr, Elisha Lyon and Richard Boynton were appointed a committee to 
raise money by subscription for a new engine for the Lower Falls, notwithstand- 
ing a majority of the members of the fire company there were Newton men 
and the apparatus was kept on their side of the river. The committee was also 
instructed to consider the question of providing fire protection at the Upper 
Falls, where an engine company had been organized. No report of this com- 
mittee can be found. 

In 1844 the town appropriated the sum of $150 for the different engine com- 
panies, to be distributed as follows: Lower Falls, $60; East Needham, $60; 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 217 

Upper Falls, $30. Very few changes were made in the department during the 
next thirty years, further than to replace old apparatus with new as it wore 
out, and the introduction of new members of the several companies as old ones 
dropped out of service. The records of the town meeting of 1874 show that 
the Cataract Engine Company was allowed $296.28 and the Mechanics Engine 
Company, $123.42, "for services at fires in excess of the $500 appropriated." 

New engine houses were erected at Needham Heights and on Chestnut Street 
in 1885, at a cost of $3,000, and on March 4, 1889, an appropriation of $900 was 
made for the installation of a fire alarm system, an arrangement being made that 
the bells of the First Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church should be 
used as alarm bells. Boxes were placed at the different engine houses and one at 
the corner of Nehoiden and Rosemary streets. The alarm system was installed 
by Henry D. Rodgers, who was the first superintendent. 

The first hook and ladder truck (purchased in 1882 at a cost of $760) was 
replaced by a new one in 1890, when a new company was formed, the department 
then numbering ninety men. In 1901 the Firemen's Relief Association was 
organized for the purpose of caring for sick or disabled members. A combina- 
tion chemical and hose wagon was purchased for $1,200 in 1905, and a second 
was purchased about two years later at a cost of $1,800. Since then the depart- 
ment has been improved along general lines and is now in first class condition, 
both in organization and equipment. 

ELECTRIC LIGHT 

The first street lights were introduced in 1874, in which year the town paid 
$150 for maintaining forty-six lights. In 1878 the number of lights had increased 
to 179 and the cost to the town for their maintenance was $450. An act of the 
General Court in 1881 authorized the Newton and Watertown Gas Light Com- 
pany to extend its pipes into Needham, but only a part of the town ever received 
any benefit. In 1883 James Mackintosh raised $1,320 by subscription for the 
establishment of eighty-eight street lamps, for which the town agreed to care. 
Ten years later the number was increased to 127 lamps. 

Under the act of 1891, Massachusetts towns were authorized to construct 
their own lighting plants. The provisions of this act were accepted by the people 
of Needham on March 7, 1892, and at another meeting on June 23, 1893, the 
selectmen were authorized to issue bonds for $10,000, and to be commissioners 
of a sinking fund, the money received from the sale of the bonds to be used for 
the purpose of constructing a municipal lighting plant. Before anything was 
done under this order, the selectmen were instructed by a meeting held on Sep- 
tember 15, 1893, to enter into a contract with the Eliot Falls Electric Light 
Company to furnish current, and an additional appropriation of $3,500 was made 
for the erection of poles, etc., the money to be raised by the sale of bonds. 
Nineteen miles of poles and wires were placed by the Hawes Electric Company, 
and late in the year the town received its first electric lights. The Eliot Falls 
Company was succeeded by the Natick Gas and Electric Company, and in 1898 
the Needham contract was renewed with the 'latter company for five years. In 
1903 the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston purchased the hold- 
ings of the Natick Company and since then light has been furnished by the 
Edison Company. 



218 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

POSTOFFICES 

On May 17, 1826, a postoffice was established at Needham — the first in the 
town — with Rufus Mills as the first postmaster. He first kept the office in his 
house, using a small trunk as a receptacle for the mail, but later removed it to 
Daniel Kingsbury's store. A few years ago the little trunk was kept on exhibi- 
tion for several days at the postoffice, to show the beginning of Needham's mail 
facilities, and it was viewed by a large number of people with manifest curiosity. 

The second postoffice was established at West Needham, with Charles Noyes 
as postmaster. The exact date when this office was ordered by the postoffice 
department cannot be ascertained, but it was prior to 1830, as in that year mail 
was delivered three times a week by the stages running between Boston and 
Natick. Noyes held the position of postmaster but a short time, when he was 
succeeded by William Flagg, who served for twenty-five years. The site of this 
office is now in the Town of Wellesley. 

On January 6, 185 1, the third postoffice in the town was established at Charles 
River Village, with Josiah Newell as postmaster. In November of the same year 
a postoffice was established at Grantville in charge of William H. Adams as post- 
master. Grantville was made a railroad station in 1884. It is now in the Town 
of Wellesley. 

The postoffice at Highlandville (now Needham Heights) was established on 
December 19, 1871. Jonathan Avery was the first postmaster at this office. Rural 
free delivery was inaugurated in Needham on June 4, 1900. 

A HISTORIC MONUMENT 

In 185 1 the town erected a monument upon an elevation in the old cemetery 
to commemorate the valor of the Needham men who lost their lives in the Revo- 
lutionary war. The monument is in the form of a granite obelisk, and upon the 
side next to the public street is the inscription : "In memory of John Bacon, 
Amos Mills, Elisha Mills, Jonathan Parker and Nathaniel Chamberlain, who 
fell at Lexington April 19, 1775. For liberty they died." 

John Bacon was first lieutenant in Capt. Caleb Kingsbury's company ; Amos 
Mills and Nathaniel Chamberlain were privates in the same company ; Elisha 
Mills was a sergeant and Jonathan Parker a private in Capt. Robert Smith's 
company. A history of these companies will be found in the chapter on the 
Revolution. 

THE TOWN SEAL 

The design of the Needham town seal is certainly appropriate and conveys 
an idea of the town's history. In the center are two white men and an Indian in 
a circle, representing the purchase of the lands from the natives ; on the left 
is a wigwam and on the right a large tree, under which the treaty was held, and 
in the background is a hill, representing Magus Hill. In the circle surrounding 
this design are the words, "Town of Needham, Incorporated, 171 1." 

MODERN NEEDHAM 

Besides the public utilities above enumerated, Needham has a banking insti- 
tution, a fine public library, a good public school system, excellent highways, a 




EPISCOPAL CHURCH, NEEDHAM HEIGHTS 







THE CARTER MILES. NEEDHAM HKICHTS 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 219 

number of manufacturing enterprises, especially in knit goods, mercantile houses 
in keeping with the demands of the population, churches of the leading denomi- 
nations, lodges of the principal fraternal organizations, and a number of social 
and literary clubs. In 1910 the population was 5,026. The town then stood 
eleventh in population, but the state census of 191 5 raised it to the ninth place, 
giving it a population of 6,542, a gain of 1,516 in five years. The assessed 
valuation of property in 191 5 was $8,765,666, only eight of the Norfolk County 
towns returning a larger valuation. 



CHAPTER XXV 
THE TOWN OF NORFOLK 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND TOPOGRAPHY — EARLY HISTORY — NORTH PARISH OF 

WRENTHAM — INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN — FIRST TOWN MEETING TOWN 

HALL — POSTOFFICES THE PRESENT NORFOLK. 

Norfolk is situated in the westerly part of the county. On the north it is 
bounded by Medfield and Millis, being separated from the latter for a short dis- 
tance by the Charles River ; on the east by Walpole ; on the south by Wrentham ; 
and on the west by Franklin. A little of the boundary line on the southeast is 
formed by the Town of Foxboro, and the Stop River forms a portion of the 
boundary line between Norfolk and Walpole. The general surface is quite 
similar to that of the surrounding towns — rolling, and in some places hilly. 
There are a few ponds and some small streams, tributaries of the Charles and 
Stop rivers. 

EARLY HISTORY 

The general history of Norfolk is uneventful. When the Town of Wrentham 
was incorporated in October, 1673, it included the greater part of the present 
Town of Norfolk, and the territory remained attached to Wrentham for nearly 
two centuries. The first settlements were made here while the town was still 
a part of Wrentham and the early history is therefore incorporated in the chapter 
relating to that town. Among the early settlers in this section were the Blakes, 
Days, Holbrooks, Manns, Ponds, Richardsons, Wares and several other families 
whose names have become intimately interwoven with the affairs of Norfolk 
County. 

In 1 791 the warrant for a town meeting in Wrentham contained an article — 
"To see if the inhabitants are satisfied with the Rev. David Avery as a Gospel 
Minister," and "provided that if the major part of the town are satisfied with 
the Rev. David Avery, to see if the town will consent that any persons who are 
dissatisfied may go to any other society to do duty and receive privilege," etc. 

Most of those who were dissatisfied with Mr. Avery as a minister lived in 
the northern part of Wrentham. Although no action was taken upon the above 
mentioned article at the town meeting, the fact that it was inserted in the warrant 
was an acknowledgment that the dissatisfaction existed. Mr. Avery continued 
to exercise the duties of pastor and early in the fall of 1795 a call was issued 
by some of the leaders in the northern part of the Town of Wrentham for the 
inhabitants of that section to meet on "Tuesday, September 29th next for 
the purpose of knowing the minds of our inhabitants for building a meeting house 
for public and social worship at the said north end." 

220 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 221 

'rne meeting was well attended and after considerable discussion it was decided 
to build a meeting house. A lengthy subscription paper was drawn up (probably 
in advance of the meeting), giving the reasons for such action, and this was signed 
by thirty-eight of the most influential men in that part of Wrentham, pledging 
the aggregate sum of $1,244 for the purpose of building a meeting house and 
employing a minister to their liking. It seems that the Town of Wrentham offered 
no objection and in this way the present Town of Norfolk became the North 
Parish of Wrentham. 

INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN 

Norfolk continued as the Wrentham North Parish for about one and a quarter 
centuries. In 1869 a petition to the General Court was prepared and circulated 
among the inhabitants, asking that the North Parish, with portions of the towns 
of Franklin, Medway and Walpole, be incorporated as a town. The petition 
came before the next session of the General Court, and on February 23, 1870, 
the following act was approved : 

"An Act to incorporate the Town of Norfolk. 

"Be it enacted, etc. 

"Section 1. All the territory now within the towns of Wrentham, Franklin, 
Medway and Walpole, in the County of Norfolk, comprised w r ithin the following 
limits, that is to say : Beginning at a point on Charles River, in the northwest 
angle of Wrentham, and following in an easterly course the present line of divi- 
sion between Wrentham and Medfield to Stop River; thence running southerly 
along said river, and separated by the thread of its stream from Walpole, to a 
point forty rods north of the mouth of the first brook running into said river 
below Campbell's Mills, on the easterly side ; thence from said point, by a straight 
line, running to the junction of Back and Bird streets in Walpole ; thence with 
the easterly side of said Bird Street to its junction with West Street ; thence 
westerly by the northerly side of West Street twenty-five rods ; thence southerly, 
and near to and westerly from the barn belonging to the home estate of Charles 
Bird, until said line strikes Stop River one hundred and twenty rods southerly 
from West Street ; thence along said river as far as Wrentham and Walpole are 
separated by the thread of its stream ; thence by a straight line, running westerly 
of the Walpole almshouse and easterly of the farm buildings of Patrick Reardon, 
and easterly of the Dupee Blake place, so called, to a point on the line between 
Walpole and Foxborough, one hundred and twenty-five rods northeasterly from 
Dedham Rock; thence from said point, following the present line of division 
between Wrentham and Foxborough, to Dedham Rock ; thence southerly from 
said rock along the present line of Wrentham and Foxborough to a point on said 
line on the southerly side of Pine Street : thence by a straight line to a point 
on the westerly side of Everett Street, northerly of the house of Edmund T. 
Everett and southerly of the Pondville Cemetery, to a point on the westerly 
side of North Street, five rods southerly of the farm buildings of Samuel J. 
Benn ; thence through the Stony Brook reservoir, near to the house of E. S. 
Nash, to a point on the line between Franklin and Wrentham, ninety rods south- 
erly of the house of Eliphalet Lawrence ; thence running northerly by a straight 
line, near to and west of the farm buildings of the home estate of J. E. Pollard, 



222 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

near the Elliot Felting Mills, near to and thirty-five rods west of the present 
residence of Saul B. Scott, to the southern extremity of Populatic Pond; thence 
along the western shore of said pond, at low-water mark, to Charles River ; 
thence in an easterly course upon Charles River, and separated by the thread 
of its stream from Medway, to the center of the iron bridge over said river; 
thence upon the thread of said river to the bridge of the Medway branch railroad ; 
thence along the southerly side of said railroad twenty-eight rods to a point ; 
thence from said point by a straight line running in a northeasterly course, 
passing southeasterly of and near to the village of Deanville, near to and south 
of the old barn belonging to John Barber, to a point on Baltimore Street two 
rods from said barn ; thence by a straight line to the easterly side of the great 
bend in Charles River and near the old fording place ; thence upon said river 
and separated by the thread of its stream from Medway to the point of begin- 
ning—is hereby incorporated into a town by the name of Norfolk ; and said 
Town of Norfolk is hereby invested with all the powers, privileges, rights and 
immunities, and is subject to all the duties and requisitions to which the other 
towns are entitled and subjected by the Constitution and laws of this Common- 
wealth." 

Section 2 relates to arrears of taxes assessed upon the inhabitants of Norfolk 
by the towns from which territory was taken, which were to be paid to the said 
towns as if this act had not been passed. 

Section 3 provides for the support of paupers, and Section 4 that "Norfolk 
shall retain the school houses within its limits and shall assume and pay its just 
and equitable proportions, according to its present assessed valuation, of any 
debt due or owing from the towns of Wrentham and Franklin, respectively, at 
the time of the passage of this act, and shall be entitled to receive from said 
towns, respectively, its just and equitable proportion, according to said assessed 
valuation, of all the corporate property then owned by the said towns of Wren- 
tham and Franklin," etc. 

Section 5 defines the representative, senatorial, congressional and councilor 
districts for the new town. 

"Section 6. Any justice of the peace within and for the County of Norfolk 
may issue his warrant, directed to any principal inhabitant of the Town of Nor- 
folk, requiring him to notify and warn the inhabitants thereof, qualified to vote 
in town affairs, to meet at the time and place appointed for the purpose of 
choosing all such town officers as towns are by law authorized and required to 
choose at their annual meetings ; and said warrant shall be served by posting up 
copies thereof, attested by the person to whom the same is directed, in three 
public places in said town, seven days at least before such meeting. Such justice 
of the peace, or, in his absence, such principal inhabitant, shall preside until the 
choice of a moderator in said meeting. The selectmen of the towns of Wrentham, 
Franklin, Medway and Walpole, shall, before said meeting, prepare a list of voters 
from their respective towns within said Norfolk, qualified to vote at said meet- 
ing, and shall deliver the same to the person presiding at said meeting before the 
choice of a moderator thereof." 

Section 7 provides that "This act shall take effect upon its passage," and as 
previously stated, the act was approved on February 23, 1870. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 223 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

Under the provisions of Section 6, the first town meeting in Norfolk was held 
on Monday, March 7, 1870. It was called to order by Saul B. Scott, the justice 
who had issued the warrant, and during the voting for moderator, Rev. Daniel 
Round checked the lists of voters that had been furnished by the selectmen of 
Wrentham, Franklin, Medway and Walpole. Albert G. Hills was chosen moderator, 
after which the following town officers were elected : Saul B. Scott, Levi Mann 
and Erastus Dupee, selectmen ; Silas E. Fales, clerk ; James H. Haines, George 
E. Holbrook and Elisha Rockwood, assessors ; William E. Codding, treasurer ; 
George P. Cody and Albert E. Dupee, constables; J. K. Bragg, Lothrop C. Keith 
and Daniel J. Holbrook, school committee ; Charles Jordan and Darius Ware, 
fence viewers; Levi Mann and Oren C. Ware, surveyors of lumber. The meet- 
ing closed by a vote of thanks to Mr. Hills for his efficient and impartial 
services as moderator, and another to Silas E. Fales and William A. Jepson for 
the gift of a ballot-box. 

TOWN HALL 

When the Town of Norfolk was incorporated it came into possession of 
the old North Parish Church, which was erected in 1796, and which was used 
just as it was for several years as a town house. In 1879 the building was 
thoroughly remodeled and a tower erected, in which is a clock presented to the 
town by Josiah Ware. The building stands upon an eminence and its tower 
commands a fine view of the surrounding country. 

POSTOFFICES 

About 1819, sixty-one years before the Town of Norfolk was incorporated, 
Eli Richardson built the stone store building at City Mills and secured an 
appointment as postmaster of the office established soon after the building was 
completed. This was the first postoffice within the present limits of the Town 
of Norfolk. Some years later an office was established at the "Centre" and was 
given the name of Norfolk. Deanville, in the northwestern part, and Pondville, 
in the southeastern part, were once postoffices, but they have been discontinued. 
The only postoffices in the town on July 1, 191 7, were those at Norfolk and 
City Mills. 

THE PRESENT NORFOLK 

In 1910 the population of Norfolk, according to the United States census, 
was 960. The state census of 191 5 reported a population of 1,268, a gain of 
308 in five years. There is some manufacturing done in the town, but the prin- 
cipal occupation is agriculture. The Boston & Willimantic division of the New 
York, New Haven & Hartford railway system passes through the town, with 
stations at Norfolk and City Mills, and the Boston & Providence division of 
the same system touches the southeast corner, with a station at Pondville. In 
1915 the assessed valuation of property was $1,111,482. In that year Norfolk re- 



224 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

ported the smallest population of any town in the county except Dover, and the 
smallest property valuation except the towns of Bellingham and Plainville. The 
town has a good public school system, churches of different denominations, but is 
without either a bank or a newspaper. Norfolk, Deanville, City Mills and Pond- 
ville are all supplied with general stores and are trading centers for the surround- 
ing agricultural districts. 



CHAPTER XXVI 
THE TOWN OF NORWOOD 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND SURFACE — FIRST SETTLEMENT — THE SOUTH PRECINCT 
— FIRST PRECINCT MEETING — LOCATING THE MEETING HOUSE — CHANGING 

THE BOUNDARY — TOWN OF NORWOOD INCORPORATED FIRST TOWN OFFICERS — 

TOWN SEAL — PRESENT DAY CONDITIONS — TOWN OFFICERS FOR I917. 

The beautiful and enterprising Town of Norwood is centrally located, being 
bounded on the north by Westwood ; on the east by the Neponset River, which 
separates it from the Town of Canton; on the south by Sharon and Walpole; and 
on the west by Walpole and Westwood. The surface is more or less hilly and is 
drained by the Babbling (or Hawes) Brook in the southwest, and by the Purga- 
tory Brook in the northern part. Both these streams flow in a southeasterly direc- 
tion to the Neponset River. 

FIRST SETTLEMENT 

Originally, the territory now forming the town was included in Dedham. As 
the grant to the Dedham proprietors in 1636 was so extensive, it offered great 
inducements to persons of an adventurous disposition to begin new settlements 
within its limits. It is impossible to say just who was the first white man to 
locate within the present bounds of Norwood, though in 1658 Eleazer Lusher 
and Joshua Fisher received a grant of land and the privilege of building a saw 
mill on the Neponset River, near the Cedar Swamp. Mr. Lusher did not remove 
to the mill site, but Mr. Fisher did, and he was one of the early settlers. 

In 1664 Daniel Pond and Ezra Morse built a corn mill on the artificial stream 
known as "Mother Brook," near Dedham Village, but when their dam was com- 
pleted it was found to interfere with a mill privilege previously granted to Nathan- 
iel Whiting and they were compelled to remove their dam. Ezra Morse was 
then granted, as a compensation for his loss, forty acres on the Neponset River, 
"near the old saw mill or at Everett's Plain." He selected the former and became 
one of Norwood's pioneers. Other early settlers were the Everetts, Guilds, 
Bullards, Smiths, and some of the Fales family. 

THE SOUTH PRECINCT 

On December 23, 1726, a petition was presented to the General Court by some 

of the people living in what are now Stoughton and Norwood, asking that they 

might be organized into a precinct "in order that a meeting, house might be 

erected for public worship," etc. Stoughton had been incorporated as a town 
vol. r— 15 

225 



226 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the day before this petition came before the General Court. Notice was served 
upon that town and Dedham, and a remonstrance came in which was strong 
enough to defeat the object of the petitioners. It was not long, however, until 
another petition, headed by Joseph Ellis, was presented. This petition stated in 
more explicit terms the difficulties under which the inhabitants labored in attend- 
ing church, especially in bad weather, and asked for the establishment of a pre- 
cinct, or that the meeting house be moved nearer to the center of the Town 
of Dedham. A committee was appointed to repair to Dedham, investigate the 
conditions, and report to the General Court "on Tuesday, the 5th day of Decem- 
ber next." Following is the report of the committee : 

"The committee appointed by the Great and General Court to take into con- 
sideration the circumstances of the Town of Dedham, and the petition of the 
southerly part of said town, having attended the said service, report as follows: 
That viewing the situation and considering the circumstances, are of the opinion 
that it will be inconvenient to grant the prayer of the petition at present; but for 
as much as it appears to the committee that the major part of the petitioners 
labor under great difficulties in the winter season, in attending the Public Worship 
of God, by reason of their distance from the Meeting House, the committee pro- 
pose that the Public Worship of God be performed by a Minister, to be provided 
by the petitioners in some private house, as near the center as may be, for five 
months in the year, viz., November, December, January, February and March, 
and that there be allowed thirty shillings per Sabbath for the said service, the 
charge to be borne by the whole town, and to continue until the further order of 
the Court, all of which is humbly submitted by order of the committee." 

This report was accepted by the Council and concurred in by the House, after 
which it was presented to the governor, who consented to such an arrangement. 
But it was not satisfactory to the inhabitants of the southern part of Dedham. 
They wanted a precinct and parish of their own. Consequently, Joseph Smith, 
Samuel Everett, John Guild, James Fales and others kept up the fight, and during 
the next two years several petitions were presented to the General Court. Under 
the pressure of these sundry petitions, another committee was appointed by the 
General Court to look into the situation and recommend a course for the Court 
to pursue. Of this committee William Dudley was chairman, and on November 
19, 1729, he reported as follows: 

"The committee appointed by this Court to take under consideration the 
several petitions, and having been at ye Town of Dedham and Stoughton, and 
heard what ye several parties had to say, as well as to view ye circumstances of 
ye Inhabitants, humbly report on ye whole their Opinion as follows, viz. : That 
all that part of Stoughton lying on ye westward of the Neponset River, and to 
the Northward of Traphole Brook to ye Walpole line, be added to and incorpo- 
rated into the Town of Dedham, with all ye Inhabitants, which with the Southern 
part of Dedham, we humbly are of Opinion be made into a distinct Township, the 
boundaries of ye whole to be as follows : Beginning at a place called Purgatory 
on Neponset River, where it may most conveniently take ye house and home lot 
of Josiah Fisher, Jr. ; from thence to a place called the Cross Wayes ; taking in ye 
house and home lot of John Hause (Hawes) ; from thence so as to take in ye 
house and home lot of Lusher Gay; from thence so as to take in ye house and 
home lot of John Baker; from thence to the line for the Precinct at Springfield 




MORRILL MEMORIAL LIBRARY, NORWOOD 




NORWOOD PRESS CLUB, NORWOOD 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 227 

(now Dover) so as to take in ye house and home lot of Amos Fisher; thence by 
ye said line to Bubbling Brook ; from thence to Walpole line and by ye said line 
to Traphole Brook ; and by ye said Brook to Neponset River ; and by ye same to 
ye first mentioned station, and that ye petitioners have leave to bring in a bill 
accordingly. 

"And whereas there has been and still remains an unhappy difference of opinion 
among ye Inhabitants about placing a Meeting House for the Public Worship of 
God, it is therefore humbly proposed that the said Meeting House may be ordered 
in such place and time as a Committee of this Court shall appoint, so as to accom- 
modate the inhabitants of Dedham, or of all the Inhabitants of this proposed 
Town, and the committee propose that the Western part of Dedham be set off 
by that town for a Precinct, to be confirmed accordingly, and that the Inhabitants 
thereof be allowed to congregate, as they do now, till the further order of this 
Court : Provided they do their proportion of the charge of supporting a minister 
where they leave." 

No action was taken upon this report for nearly a year, but on October 3, 
1730, the Council voted to accept the report and ordered "That the Prayer of 
this Petition be granted, so far as that the Southwesterly part of ye Town 
of Dedham, together with the westerly part of ye Town of Stoughton, accourding 
to the bounds expressed in the Report of a Committee of this Court in December 
(November) last, be erected into a Township, and that the Petitioners bring in 
a bill." 

Five days later the House concurred in this action, except striking out the 
word "township," and inserting in its place the word "precinct." The same day 
the Council accepted the amendment and the governor gave his official sanction 
to the act, so that the territory now comprising the Town of Norwood became the 
South Precinct of Dedham on October 8, 1730. 

FIRST PRECINCT MEETING 

Under a separate act of the General Court, John Everett, "a principal inhabi- 
tant," was authorized to call a meeting of "ye Inhabitants of ye Precinct." He 
served his warrant upon each qualified voter "to assemble in his Majesty's name at 
the house of John Ellis on October 22, 1730, to choose Precinct officers." When 
the meeting assembled John Everett was chosen moderator and James Fales, Jr., 
was elected clerk. The only officers elected were three assessors, viz. : John 
Everett, Ebenezer Healy and James Fales, Jr., who were authorized to call other 
meetings of the precinct. 

At a second meeting, held on November 9, 1730, Ebenezer Dean was elected 
treasurer and Samuel Holmes, tax collector. It was voted at this meeting to raise 
and appropriate the sum of fifty pounds, "to pay a minister for six months 1 ' — 
three months to be at the house of John Ellis and three months at the house of 
Nathaniel Guild, if it can be obtained ; if not the entire six months at the house 
of John Ellis." Joseph Ellis and John Dean were chosen a committee to procure 
an orthodox minister, and it was also voted "to build a Meeting House for the 
Public worship of God in ye Precinct, said house to be forty feet in length and 
thirty-six feet in width, to be erected at ye centre of the precinct," and William 
Everett, Nathaniel Guild, Ebenezer Healy, Joseph Ellis and Ebenezer Dean were 



228 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

appointed a building committee. The sum of one hundred pounds was voted 
to pay for the building. 

LOCATING THE MEETING HOUSE 

On January 30, 1731, Joseph Ellis and Samuel Bullard were chosen a com- 
mittee to procure a surveyor to find the center of the precinct, but it seems the 
exact center was an undesirable spot for the meeting house. "A loving and 
friendly conference" was therefore held on June 7, 1731, at which it was decided 
to ask the General Court to appoint a committee "to place ye Meeting House for 
this Precinct," and John Everett and William Bullard were selected to present 
the matter to the Court. In response to the petition the General Court appointed 
Joseph Wads worth of the Council and John Jacob and Benjamin Bird of the 
House. They reported in favor of "the south end of the common land lying 
between John Cobb's and Doctor Richards' as the best place to set it on," which 
report was accepted by the Court and the precinct was ordered to pay four pounds 
four shillings to pay the expenses of the committee. The site was not acceptable 
to a majority of the precinct, and at a meeting on July 14. 1731, it was voted not 
to appropriate money to build a meeting house on the spot selected by the com- 
mittee, nor to pay the expenses of the committee. 

In the meantime a meeting house had been commenced near the center of 
the precinct, as voted by the meeting of November 9, 1730, but owing to dissen- 
sions over the location had not been finished. During the year 1731 no fewer 
than twelve meetings were called to consider the question of locating the meeting 
house, but the lack of harmony prevented a decision. The year 1732 brought no 
better results, and on February 26, 1733, William Bullard, James Fales, Jr., Ebene- 
zer Dean, William Everett and Ebenezer Healy were selected as a committee to 
carry the matter once more before the General Court and ask for a reversal of 
the order to build a meeting house on the common land near the house of John 
Cobb, but to establish the place according to a vote of the precinct, and to order 
the three hundred pounds already granted to be expended on the said center 
meeting house. This called forth a counter petition on the part of Joseph Ellis 
and others living in the northerly part of the precinct. The result was that the 
Court ordered "Joseph Ellis and others, with the two Fishers and Aaron Ellis 
with their estates, to be laid back to the Old Precinct; the others to remain in 
the South Precinct." 

A committee from the General Court then reported that, having considered 
the petition of William Bullard and others, "the place for a Precinct Meeting 
House be between the houses of Ebenezer Dean and Nathaniel Guild on the 
Northwest side of the way to Walpole, about nine rods from said Guild's fence, 
in the quarter of an acre of land given and granted to the said Precinct by the 
said Dean," etc. On January 4, 1735, the voters of the precinct accepted the 
site recommended by the committee, appropriated the balance of the one hun- 
dred pounds voted by the meeting of November 9, 1730, and John Everett. 
William Bacon, Daniel Draper and John Dean were appointed a building com- 
mittee to carry into effect the order of the meeting. On February 6, 1735, an 
additional appropriation of £150 was made toward the erection of the meeting 
house and John Farrington and Nathaniel Lewis were added to the building com- 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 229 

mittee. One would suppose that the vexed question of a meeting house was now 
settled. But when on February 9, 1736, the people selected Rev. Thomas Balch 
as their pastor, Daniel Draper and seven others, being dissatisfied with the choice, 
petitioned the General Court to be released from the precinct. The petition was 
granted, except in the cases of John Cobb, William Bullard, Nathaniel Lewis and 
Samuel Farrington, who were ordered to remain in the South Precinct. Thus 
after about five years of dissension, which resulted in a division of the precinct 
as originally established on October 8, 1730, the question of the meeting house 
location was set at rest. The church, with Rev. Thomas Balch as pastor, was 
formally organized on June 23, 1736. 

CHANGING THE BOUNDARY 

By an act of the General Court, approved on January 9, 1738, "Capt. Ezra 
Morse and his sons, Ezra, Jr., and Joseph, with their estates, are set off from 
Walpole and annexed to Dedham and to the South Precinct. Also that part of 
Stoughton which was within the limits of the South Precinct is annexed to 
Dedham and the Neponset River is made the dividing line between the towns of 
Dedham and Stoughton, the original line being about one mile west of that 
river." 

A few years later a large part of the estate of Nathaniel Sumner was set off 
from Sharon and annexed to the South Precinct of Dedham. In 1763 the line 
between the two parishes was defined by a committee composed of Ebenezer 
Everett and Eliphalet Fales on the part of the South Precinct; Isaac Whiting 
and Ichabod Gay, on behalf of the Clapboard Tree Parish. They reported: 
"The line beginning from ye center betweene ye meeting houses, then runs North 
50 degrees East to ye place where the house of Ebenezer Ellis stood, from thence 
North one degree west to the Cross Wayes. The distance betweene ye Meeting 
Houses is one and a half mile and 33 rods." 

In 1767 the First Precinct selected Jonathan Metcalf, John Eaton and W'illiam 
Avery to act with Nathaniel Sumner, David Fisher and Benjamin Fisher of the 
Second Precinct in fixing the boundary line between the two. The committee 
reported as follows : "We began at Purgatory Hole so called, thence run North- 
westerly to a White Oak tree with stones around it on the land of Joseph Wight ; 
thence to a heap of Stones at the Northeasterly corner of land now belonging to 
Deacon William Avery, thence more northerly to the eastwardly corner of land 
now belonging to Capt. Daniel Gay, thence westerly to the Cross Ways near the 
house of Jeremiah Dean ; and we are of the opinion that said line ought to be the 
dividing line between said Precincts, and for the future to be esteemed as such, 
excepting such lands as have since the setting off of the South Precinct been by 
the General Court laid to the First Parish in Dedham, which is humbly 
submitted." 

TOWN OF NORWOOD INCORPORATED 

On December 22, 1871, a meeting was held in the village hall to consider the 
advisability of presenting a petition to the General Court asking that the South 
Precinct of Dedham be erected into a town. George B. Talbot and a few of his 



230 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

friends had previously circulated a petition to that effect and obtained 252 signa- 
tures. At the meeting a committee was appointed to appear before the legislative 
committee on towns and support Mr. Talbot's petition, which asked for the estab- 
lishment of a new town to embrace the old South Precinct and a small portion of 
Walpole, the inhabitants of which were closely connected with the proposed new 
town through their business interests and social relations. Neither Dedham nor 
Walpole offered any objections to the movement, and on February 23, 1872, 
Governor Washburn approved an act, Section 1 of which was as follows : 

"All the territory now within the towns of Dedham and Walpole in the 
County of Norfolk, comprised within the following limits, that is to say : Begin- 
ning at the point where the southerly side of Canton Street crosses the dividing 
line between the towns of Canton and Dedham ; thence running northwesterly on 
the westerly side of said Canton Street about three thousand feet, to a point 
dividing the lands of John and Luther Eaton ; thence running from said point, on 
a line in the direction of the old parish boundary now standing at the junction of 
Centre Street and East Street, until said line strikes and crosses Downey Street 
at a point about thirteen hundred and two feet from a monument at the corner 
of Downey Street and Everett Street ; thence running westerly on the northerly 
side of Everett Street, and crossing Centre Street, to the street boundary post on 
the southerly side of Clapboard-tree Street, near the southwesterly abutment of 
the Boston, Hartford & Erie Railroad bridge near Ellis Station ; thence running 
westerly by the southerly side of Clapboard-tree Street to the angle in said street, 
which is about forty-five rods west of Jeremiah Gay's house ; thence in a straight 
line toward the corner of land of Samuel Cheney on Winter Street, twenty-one 
rods north of the house of said Samuel Cheney, until said line strikes Nahatan 
Street about three hundred and nine feet southerly from the north corner of 
Ebenezer Gay's land ; thence in a straight line passing through the easterly line 
of the junction of Oak Street and Brook Street, to the dividing line between the 
towns of Dedham and Walpole; then following the said dividing line southeasterly 
to a monument where Brook Street crosses Babbling Brook, at a point south of 
and near the house of James R. Fisher; thence in a straight line to a monument 
on the east side of the old Post Road, on land now or late of the heirs of Isaac 
Fisher ; thence by the lines dividing the Town of Dedham from the towns of 
Walpole, Sharon and Canton respectively to the point of beginning — is hereby 
incorporated into a town by the name of Norwood." 

Thus it was that Norwood, after having been a precinct of Dedham for 142 
years, took her place among the towns of Norfolk County. On March 6, 1872, 
the citizens celebrated the birth of their town. Among the distinguished guests 
present were Governor Washburn, Senator Thomas L. Wakefield of Dedham, 
A. B. Endicott and Benjamin Weatherbee, two of Dedham's selectmen, and 
several others. Governor Washburn made a short speech in which he congratu- 
lated the people of the new town upon the auspicious beginning of its career. 

FIRST TOWN OFFICERS 

In accordance with a provision in the act of incorporation. Willard Gay 
issued a warrant for a town meeting to be held on Monday, March 11, 1872. 
George Lovis was chosen moderator, after which the following town officers were 




hioh school. Norwood 




WIXSLOW SCHOOL. NORWOOD 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 231 

elected : Samuel E. Pond, Willard Gay and Edward Everett, selectmen ; Francis 
Tinker, clerk ; L. W. Bigelow, treasurer ; Caleb Ellis, George H. Morse and Tyler 
Thayer, assessors ; J. C. Park, Rev. E. A. Wyman and Francis O. Winslow, 
school committee ; James Engles and C. W. Strout, constables. 

After the election of these officers, the first official act of the Town of Nor- 
wood was to extend a vote of thanks to the committee who had served so faith- 
fully in presenting the petition for a new town to the Legislature, etc. This 
committee was composed of John C. Park, Caleb Ellis and J. W. Talbot. The 
next thing was to adopt the following : "Resolved, That the citizens of Norwood, 
in town meeting assembled, recognize with grateful pleasure the readiness and 
courtesy with which the citizens of Dedham and Walpole have assisted us in 
the inauguration of our new town ; and that the clerk be instructed to present 
a copy of this resolution to the selectmen of Dedham and Walpole." 

TOWN SEAL 

The corporate seal of the Town of Norwood is typical of its early history, 
while it was still* the Dedham South Precinct. In the background of a circular 
field is a team of oxen hitched to a plow, and to the right is a clump of trees. In 
the foreground is the figure of a man in the costume of colonial days, with 
musket on his shoulder and powder-horn hanging at his side, while underneath 
are the words: "Aaron Guild, April 19, 1775." Aaron Guild was one of the 
residents of the precinct at the time the Lexington Alarm was sounded through 
the colonies. The deserted ox team and plow tell the story of his loyalty to the 
cause of the colonists. He was a member of Capt. Joseph Guild's company in 
the northern campaign of 1775-76, and was afterward captain of a company, 
a large number of the members of which came from the South Precinct. (See 
chapter on the Revolution.) In the margin of the seal are the words: "Town 
of Norwood, Mass., Incorporated Feb. 23, 1872." 

PRESENT DAY CONDITIONS 

Norwood is the fifth town in the county in point of population, and also the 
fifth in wealth. In 1910 the population was 8,014 and the state census of 1915 
reported 10,977, a S am °f 2-963 m five years. The assessed valuation of property 
for 1916 was $17,074,710. This was about thirty thousand dollars lower than 
the valuation of the preceding year, owing to a readjustment of assessments. On 
December 31, 1916, the bonded indebtedness of the town was $527,900, and the 
value of municipal property was $1,427,801, or nearly three dollars of assets 
for each dollar of debt, not including cash on hand and other personal property. 

The town has a system of waterworks that cost $361,000. with the principal 
pumping station at Ellis Station and another at Westwood. The supply is taken 
from deep wells, with the Buckmaster Pond as an auxiliary supply in case of 
emergency. During the year 1916 the amount of water pumped was 347,000,000 
gallons, and the income of the works was $39,933-35- Norwood also has a 
municipal lighting plant, the value of which was estimated at the close of the 
year 1916 as $125,000. The income for that year was $66,817.80 and the operat- 
ing expenses, including the town fire alarm system, were $52,549.22. The fire 



232 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

department is equipped with combination auto truck, motor hose wagon and 
a hook and ladder truck drawn by horses. 

Norwood has two banks, a weekly newspaper (the Messenger), a number of 
prosperous manufacturing establishments, well stocked mercantile houses, a fine 
public library, good public schools, Baptist, Catholic, Congregational, Methodist 
Episcopal and Universalist churches, a fine,, new Masonic temple, well paved 
streets, and many handsome residences. The division of the New York, New 
Haven & Hartford that runs from Boston to Providence via Wrentham passes 
through the town, with stations at Ellis, Norwood, Norwood Central and Mor- 
rills, and the town is connected with Boston and the adjacent towns by electric 
railway lines, hence the transportation facilities are excellent. 

TOWN OFFICERS, igij 

Following is a list of the principal town officers at the beginning of the year 
1917: Frank G. Allen, Oliver J. Barr, George K. Bird, Patrick J. Lydon and 
John E. Folan, selectmen; James E. Pendergast, clerk and accountant; Harold 
W. Gay, treasurer and collector; Clarence A. Bingham, general manager; Mahlon 
R. Perry, John P. Crowley and Aaron L. Goodwin, assessors ; Cornelius M. Cal- 
lahan, Alfred N. Ambrose, Ralph E. Bullard, Sarah N. Bigelow, Henry I. 
Everett and Harriet W. Lane, school board ; Francis J. Foley, Herbert H. Miller 
and Frank A. Fales, finance commission ; James A. Halloran, town counsel ; 
J. F. Boyden, Frank W. Talbot and Clarence A. Bingham, board of fire engineers ; 
Joseph E. Conley, superintendent of public works. 



CHAPTER XXVII 
THE TOWN OF PLAINVILLE 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION EARLY HISTORY PETITION FOR INCORPORATION THE 

ORGANIC ACT FIRST TOWN MEETING DIVISION OF PROPERTY THE TOWN 

SEAL — MISCELLANEOUS — TOWN OFFICERS FOR I917. 

Plainville is the youngest of the Norfolk County towns. It is located in 
the southwestern part and is bounded as follows : On the north by Wrentham ; 
on the east by Foxboro ; on the south by Bristol County, and on the west by 
the State of Rhode Island. From north to south its average width is a little 
over two miles, and from east to west it is five miles in extent. The surface in 
this part of the county is less hilly than in some other portions. There are no 
large streams in the town and the few small ones all flow toward the south. 
Miramichi Pond is on the boundary between Plainville and Foxboro. It is some- 
times called Shepard's Pond, after one of the early settlers in the vicinity. There 
is another large pond about a mile west of Miramichi, and there are a few 
smaller ponds in the neighborhood of Plainville Village. 

EARLY HISTORY 

From 1636 to 1673 the territory now comprising the Town of Plainville was 
included in the Town of Dedham. In the latter year it was made a part of 
Wrentham, where it remained until the Town of Plainville was incorporated 
in 1905. For more than ten years after the incorporation of Dedham, the inhabi- 
tants knew comparatively little of this region, which was known by the Indian 
name "Wollomonopoag." About 1647 John Dwight and Francis dickering 
reported indications of some mines, "about thirteen miles from Dedham Village," 
and the general opinion is that some mines were at Wollomonopoag. Two years 
later, "on account of the scarcity of grass in Dedham, the inhabitants went to 
Wollomonopoag to cut grass from the meadows there." That is the only men- 
tion in the Dedham records of this part of the county until July 22, 1660, when 
the selectmen appointed Lieutenant Fisher, Sergeant Fuller, Richard Wheeler 
and Ensign Fisher to view the lands and make report to the selectmen, etc. On 
the last day of December following, the selectmen submitted the report of the 
viewers, to wit : "To us it seemeth that it might be helpfull to Conduce to 
publick and particuler good that the place might be planted with meet Inhabi- 
tants in due time." 

At a general town meeting held on March 2j, 1661, it was voted that a planta- 
tion be set up at the place called Wollomonopoag, and that a committee be ap- 
pointed to allot to each settler his proportion of the 600 acres set apart for the 

233 



234 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

plantation; to determine who were meet to be accepted; and "to order the 
setting of the Plantacion in reference to High Wayes convenient place for a 
Meeting House, with such other things Necesary as may here after be pro- 
posed." This was the beginning of authorized settlement at Wollomonopoag, 
the name of which place was changed to Wrentham in 1673. The account of 
the settlement will be found in the chapter devoted to Wrentham. 

PETITION FOR INCORPORATION 

While still a part of Wrentham, the Village of Plainville was laid out and 
settled and a postofhce was there established. Early in the year 1905 the fol- 
lowing petition was presented to the Legislature, then in session : 

"To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives, etc., 

"The undersigned petitioners, citizens of Wrentham, respectfully represent 
that they are inhabitants of the Village of Plainville, in said town ; that they 
are desirous of having said Village of Plainville set off as a separate town under 
the name of Plainville, or such other name as to the General Court seem suit- 
able ; and that the boundaries of the new town be fixed as follows : Beginning 
at the northeast boundary stone of the State of Rhode Island; thence in a 
straight line to the Foxboro town line on the south side of Thurston Street; 
and on*all other sides by the Town of Foxboro, North Attleboro, and the 
State of Rhode Island." 

This petition was signed by William S. Metcalf, H. E. Thompson, Willis 
M. Fuller, Rufus King, "and many others." On April 3, 1905, a bill, which 
had previously passed the senate, was reported in the house of representatives 
and passed the same day. It was approved the following day, so that Plainville 
dates its corporate existence from April 4, 1905. 

THE ORGANIC ACT 

"Be it enacted, etc., as follows: 

"Section 1. All the territory now within the Town of Wrentham which 
lies south of the following described line, to wit: — A straight line drawn from 
a stone monument in the boundary line between the Town of Wrentham and 
the Town of Cumberland in the State of Rhode Island, which monument is at 
the intersection of the lines forming the northeast corner of the State of Rhode 
Island, to a point where the southerly line of Thurston Street in the Town of 
Wrentham intersects the boundary line between the Town of Wrentham and 
the Town of Foxborough, is hereby incorporated as a separate town by the 
name of Plainville, and the said Town of Plainville is hereby vested with all 
the powers, privileges, rights and immunities, and shall be subject to all the 
duties and obligations conferred or imposed on towns by the constitution and 
laws of the Commonwealth. 

"Section 2. The inhabitants of the estates within the Town of Plainville 
and the owners of all such estates, shall be holden to pay all arrears of taxes 
which have legally been assessed upon them by the Town of Wrentham, and all 
the taxes heretofore assessed and not collected shall be collected and paid to the 
treasurer of the Town of Wrentham, and all moneys now in the treasury of the 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 235 

Town of Wrentham, or that may hereafter be received from taxes now as- 
sessed, shall be applied to the purposes for which they were raised and assessed, 
in the same manner as if this act had not been passed ; and until the next state 
valuation the Town of Plainville shall annually, in the month of November, pay 
to the Town of Wrentham its proportion of such state and county taxes as 
may be assessed upon the Town of Wrentham, said proportion to be ascer- 
tained and determined by the last valuation of the Town of Wrentham; and 
the assessors of the Town of Wrentham shall make return of said valuation 
and the proportions thereof in the towns of Wrentham and Plainville, respect- 
ively, to the secretary of the Commonwealth and to the county commissioners of 
the County of Norfolk." 

Section 3 relates to the liability of each of the towns of Wrentham and 
Plainville in the care of paupers, and Section 4 provides that all suits and pro- 
ceedings at law or in equity, in which the Town of Wrentham is a plaintiff or 
defendant, shall be prosecuted or defended as though the act had not been 
passed. 

"Section 5. The corporate property of the Town of Wrentham both real 
and personal, in existence at the time of the passage of this act, and the town 
debts then existing, shall be divided between the towns of Wrentham and 
Plainville, according to the valuation of the property within their respective 
limits as assessed the first day of May in the year 1904. The towns shall sev- 
erally retain and hold all the real and personal property now within their 
respective limits, at a valuation to be agreed upon by a committee consisting of 
six legal voters, three to be chosen by each town at a legal meeting to be called 
for that purpose ; and the differences in valuation shall be equalized and bal- 
ances adjusted by apportionment of the town debt. In case of failure to agree 
upon a valuation and division of the assets and liabilities the same shall be 
determined by a board of three commissioners, none of Whom shall be a resident 
of either of said towns, to be appointed by the Superior Court for the County 
of Norfolk, in term time or vacation, upon the petition of either town after 
notice to the other, whose award when accepted by the court shall be final, and 
the said court may issue any writ or make any order thereon necessary to 
carry their award into effect. The award may be set aside for fraud or mani- 
fest error, but for no other cause, and the matters to be determined as afore- 
said may be recommitted to the same or to other commissioners to be appointed 
for the purpose, with like powers and duties as aforesaid." 

Section 6 provides that the public library building at Wrentham Centre and 
the fund held by the trustees of said library shall belong to the Town of Wren- 
tham. Section 7 places the Town of Plainville in the judicial district of the 
District Court of Western Norfolk, the Twelfth Congressional District, the 
Second Councillor District, the Second Norfolk Senatorial District and the 
Tenth Representative District of Norfolk County. Section 8 authorizes any 
justice of the peace in the County of Norfolk to issue his warrant for a town 
meeting in the Town of Plainville, and Section 9 makes it incumbent upon the 
selectmen of Wrentham to call a special town meeting within thirty days for 
the purposes of electing town officers to fill vacancies caused by the incorpora- 
tion of Plainville. Section 10 relates to powers and privileges reserved to 
Wrentham in the construction, maintenance and operation of certain street rail- 



236 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

ways. Section 1 1 provides that the Town of Plainville shall bear the expense 
of making the surveys and establishing the line between it and Wrentham. 
Section 12 sets forth that Plainville shall receive a proportional part of any 
funds paid by the Commonwealth or by the United States to Wrentham on 
account of bounties to soldiers or for state aid heretofore paid to soldiers' 
families, ''after deducting all reasonable expenses," and Section 13 declares 
the act shall take effect upon its passage. 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

On April 5, 1905, the day following the approval of the act of incorporation, 
James H. Shannon, a justice of the peace residing in Plainville, issued a war- 
rant to William F. Maintien "to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of 
Plainville qualified to vote in town affairs, to meet in the Plainville Methodist 
Episcopal Church on Wednesday, the 12th day of April, A. D. 1905, at nine 
o'clock in the forenoon," to elect officers and transact certain other business set 
forth in the warrant, especially the appointment of a committee to act with a 
committee of Wrentham for the division of the town property. 

The officers elected at that first town meeting were as follows : William F. 
Maintien, George F. Cheever arid William S. Metcalf, selectmen, overseers of 
the poor and board of health ; James H. Shannon, clerk ; Walter E. Barden, 
treasurer ; George W. Wood, tax collector ; William F. Maintien, Joseph F. 
Breen and J. F. Thompson, assessors; John J. Eiden, auditor; Edward C. Bar- 
ney, highway surveyor; Rufus King, Bentley W. Morse and Gardner Warren, 
school committee ; John Ff. Greven, Sylvester Smith and Daniel Crotty. con- 
stables. 

On the question of the division of the town property, William F. Maintien, 
Herbert E. Thompson and Walter E. Barden were unanimously chosen by the 
meeting as Plainville's members of the joint committee provided for in Section 
5 of the act of incorporation. The meeting also voted to borrow $15,000 for 
the purpose of erecting a new school house, and Herbert E. Thompson, W. M. 
Fuller, Rufus King and Edward C. Barney were appointed a committee to 
superintend the erection of the building. Walter E. Barden, Frank O. Corbin 
and Rufus King were appointed a committee on by-laws, with instructions to 
procure designs for a town seal and report at the next meeting. Their report 
.on by-laws was made at a special meeting held on Monday, November 6, 1905, 
and was accepted. 

DIVISION OF PROPERTY 

The committee above named met with the Wrentham members — Elbridge 
J. Whitaker, Artemas Willard and Edward F. McClennan — and the joint com- 
mittee organized by electing Elbridge J. Whitaker as chairman and William 
F. Maintien as clerk. After canvassing all the property, real and personal, 
they found within the limits of Wrentham property valued at $43,592, and in 
Plainville at $13,712.22, in addition to which the former held assets of $16,- 
391.44, making the total valuation of corporate property $73,695.66. Wrentham 
assumed all the town's liabilities, amounting to $29,277.11. The final settle- 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 237 

ment was that Wrentham should pay to Plainville $4,055.20 to equalize the 
division of corporate property, and $727.30, with interest thereon at 4 per cent 
from February 1, 1905, as the town's share of the school fund. 

THE TOWN SEAL 

At the meeting of November 6, 1905, the committee on by-laws, pursuant to 
the instructions of the first town meeting, submitted a design for a town seal, a 
representation of the new school building to occupy the center of the seal. 
James H. Shannon, town clerk, brought forward a design making use of the 
Angle Tree boundary monument as the proper emblem to occupy the center of 
the seal, and explained at some length the significance of his design. Walter 
E. Barden, a member of the committee, moved that the design submitted by the 
town clerk be substituted for that offered by the committee, which was carried 
by a decisive majority. 

A brief history of the Angle Tree monument shows the wisdom of the town 
in selecting it as the central figure of the corporate seal. When Charles I granted 
the patent to the Massachusetts Bay Company in the spring of 1628, the south- 
ern boundary was designated as "three miles south of the southerly end of the 
Charles River." It was not long until disputes arose between the Plymouth and 
Massachusetts Bay colonies as to the exact location of the boundary line. In 1640 
Plymouth selected William Bradford and Edward Winslow, and Massachusetts 
Bay selected John Endicott and Israel Stoughton, "for ye setting out, setting 
& determing of ye bounds & limitts of ye lands betweene ye said jurisdic- 
tions," etc. 

The work done by these commissioners evidently was not satisfactory to 
the people of the two colonies, for in 1664 a second commission was appointed 
to run and mark the line. The record of this survey was outlined on a tree, 
called the "Angle Tree," standing on the line between the present towns of 
Plainville and North Attleboro, where it remained for more than a century. 
Finally the old tree disappeared and in May, 1790, the General Court appointed 
Lemuel Kollock to erect a monument where the tree stood, and to "make a 
return of his doings into the Secretary's office with a Certificate from under 
the Hands of the Selectmen of the Towns of Wrentham and Attleborough or 
the Major Part of them sworn to before some Justice of the Peace certifying 
that said stone is erected in the same spot where the said station or angle tree 
formerly stood & is one of the bounds between said towns, and lay his account 
before this Court for allowance and payment." 

On March 11, 1791, Lemuel Kollock was allowed £21 2s 6d for "procuring 
and fixing a Monument upon the important Bounds in the Town of Wrentham, 
by order of the Government." It is a representation of this monument which 
occupies the center of the town seal. At the top of the monument are the words 
"Mass. Colony 1628"; in the center, divided by the figure of the monument, 
"Wrentham, 1673, Plainville, 1905," and in the circle surrounding the central 
field the inscription: "Town of Plainville, Mass., Incorporated April 4, 1905." 

MISCELLANEOUS 

A fire engine house had been built in the Village of Plainville before the town 
was incorporated in 1905. This became the property of the Town of Plainville 



238 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

in the division, and the department has since been improved by the purchase of 
some new equipment and a supply of hose. The appropriation for the depart- 
ment in 1916 was $500. Soon after the town was incorporated a system of 
waterworks was established. At the close of the year 1916 the amount of water 
bonds outstanding was $29,400. In their report for that year the water com- 
missioners announce that the total supply of water pumped and distributed was 
9.968,954 gallons, and the amount received from water rates was $2,366.06. 
Plainville is well supplied with public schools, churches of different denomina- 
tions offer opportunities for public worship, the manufacturing interests include 
jewelry, shoestrings and shoddy, the town claming the largest manufactory of 
ladies' mesh bags in the world, and the mercantile interests are in keeping with 
the general demands of the town. The Boston & Providence division ( via 
Wrentham) of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and the electric 
railway running from Franklin to Attleboro provide good transportation facilities. 
In 1910 the population of Plainville was 1,385, and in 1915 *it was 1,408, a 
gain of only 23 in the five years, owing to the removal of several persons from 
the town. In 1916 the assessed valuation of property, as shown by the report 
of the assessors, was $1,070,032. 

TOWN OFFICERS, I917 

At the beginning of the year 1917 the principal town officers were: Earl B. 
Thompson, William E. Blanchard and Fred W. Northup, selectmen, overseers of 
the poor and board of health ; Theodore E. A. Fuller, clerk ; Walter E. Barden, 
treasurer; J. Fred Thompson, William E. Blanchard and Frank E. Barney, 
assessors; Harry B. Thompson, William H. Nash and Charles N. Moore, water 
commissioners; James H. Cheever, auditor; John J. Eiden, Willis M. Fuller and 
Charles C. Root, school committee; Oliver P. Brown, tax collector. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
THE CITY OF QUINCY 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION SETTLEMENT — MERRYMOUNT — GOVERNOR ENDICOTT — PART 

OF BRAINTREE — THE TOWN INCORPORATED — FIRST TOWN MEETING — AN EARLY 
CUSTOM — TOWN HALL — QUINCY GRANITE — POSTOFFICES — CITIZENS GAS COM- 
PANY INCORPORATED AS A CITY WATERWORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT MODERN 

QUINCY CITY GOVERNMENT. 

The City (formerly Town) of Quincy is situated in the eastern part of the 
county and is bounded as follows : On the north by the Town of Milton and 
Quincy Bay ; on the east by the Weymouth Fore River and Town River Bay, 
which separate it from the Town of Weymouth ; on the south by Braintree 
and Randolph ; on the west by Milton, and on the northwest the Neponset River 
forms a little of the boundary line, separating Quincy from the City of Boston. 
The coast line from the mouth of the Neponset to the mouth of the Weymouth 
Fore River is indented by numerous bays, such as Dorchester and Quincy bays, 
Rock Island Cove and Town River Bay. Projecting into the waters are several 
capes or headlands, the principal of which are Commercial Point, Squantum 
Head, Quincy Great Hill, Hough's Neck, Rock Island Head, Gull Point and 
Quincy Point. The main water-courses are Town River, Sagamore and Black 
creeks and Furnace Brook. The surface is uneven and some of the finest granite 
deposits in the United States are found within the Quincy limits. 

SETTLEMENT 

It is quite probable that Capt. John Smith, while voyaging along the coast 
in 1614 and trading with the natives, landed in what is now Quincy, for on the 
rude map of the coast drawn by him the coast line can be identified. But the 
first recorded visit of white men was in the month of September, 1621, when 
Miles Standish and twelve men came up the coast from Plymouth, anchored in a 
small cove on Thompson's Island on the night of the 29th, and the next morning 
landed on Squantum Head, where they found a pile of lobsters, upon which they 
breakfasted. Taking four men and the Indian guide, Squanto, Captain 
Standish started out to explore the country. They soon met an Indian woman, 
who was going after the lobsters they had eaten, and for which Standish gave 
her something in the way of compensation. Squanto accompanied the woman to 
her village, which was on the northerly side of the Neponset, while Standish 
and his companions returned to their boat. Upon their return to Plymouth they 
gave a favorable account of the country they had visited, "wishing they had been 
there seated." 

239 



240 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Nearly four years elapsed after the visit of Standish before any attempt was 
made to plant a settlement at the place where he had landed and which he partially 
explored. In June, 1625, a company of adventurers, chief among whom was a 
Captain Wollaston, came over from England with a party of articled servants with 
a view to establishing a trading post. They located at a place called by the Indians 
Passonagessit, but to which they gave the name of Mount Wollaston — a name 
which it still retains. Here was built the first house within the limits of Quincy, 
but its exact location cannot be determined. The winter that followed was 
severe and it seems that Captain Wollaston had enough of the "stern New Eng- 
land climate," for in the spring of 1626 he took part of his company and set sail 
for Virginia, leaving a man named Rasdell in charge of the post at Mount 
W'ollaston. He reached Virginia and managed to send word back to Rasdell to 
place one Fitcher in charge of the post and come on to Virginia, bringing with 
him a number of the servants, whose labor was afterward sold to Virginia planters. 

MERRYMOUNT 

In the company was Thomas Morton, who had first come to America with 
Andrew Weston, a brother of Thomas, in June, 1622, and passed a portion of 
that summer at Wessaguscus ( that portion of Weymouth later known as Old 
Spain), returning to England in September. Morton has been described as a 
sportsman who was desirous of returning to America, but was without means 
to organize an expedition of his own. Having been connected with Weston's 
unfortunate venture, he deemed it imprudent to apply to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 
who was laboring to encourage emigration, so he joined the company led by 
Captain Wollaston. When the latter sent for the man Rasdell, Morton saw that 
it was the intention to break up the settlement at Mount Wollaston, a movement 
with which he was not in sympathy. He therefore sowed the seeds of discon- 
cent among the remaining servants by telling them that if they were taken to 
Virginia they would be sold, and suggested that if they would place him at the 
head of the plantation they could all live there in comfort and derive large profits 
by trading with the Indians. After Rasdell's departure there were but eight 
men left, one of whom was the man Fitcher -selected by Wollaston to conduct 
affairs. 

Morton soon won over the seven men and Fitcher was expelled from the 
settlement. He went to Plymouth, leaving Morton in full control. Nor did he 
fail to make good his promises regarding easy living and the profits of the 
Indian trade. With the Indians he became a great favorite, because he not only 
bought their furs on liberal terms, but he also admitted them to the drunken 
revels of the trading post. Morton decided to rechristen the plantation and on 
May-day, 1627, he set up a maypole, a merry song was made "which was sung 
by a chorus, every man bearing his part, which they performed in a dance hand 
in hand about the maypole, while one of the company sang and filled out the 
good liquor, like Ganymede and Jupiter." The name selected by Morton was 
Maremount, but the place soon became known as "Merrymount," on account of 
the wild orgies conducted there from time to time. 

Had Morton and his associates contented themselves with their frivolities, 
they would probably not have been molested by his neighbors at Plymouth, even 




CAIRN ON PENN'S HILL. QUINCY 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 241 

though they might have remonstrated with him because of his worldy practices. 
Unfortunately, however, he began to supply the Indians with fire-arms and 
ammunition. Some five years before this time the French on the coast of 
Maine and the Dutch in New York had commenced to sell guns and ammunition 
to the natives and the practice was forbidden by royal proclamation. Morton 
ignored the proclamation and sold the Indians all the guns he could spare, after 
which he sent to England for a new supply, preparatory to going into the busi- 
ness on a larger scale. All along the coast the infant settlements looked upon 
Merrymount as a menace to their safety. The settlers from Plymouth to Ports- 
mouth realized that if they attempted to drive Morton out by force he could 
summon to his aid his Indian friends and prove to be a match for them all. 
Nevertheless, something must be done. 

In the spring of 1628 the Plymouth authorities wrote a friendly communica- 
tion to Morton, asking him to desist from his evil practices and requesting an 
answer by the messenger. Morton sent back word to the Plymouth magistrates 
that they were meddling in matters which in no way concerned them, and inti- 
mated that he was capable of conducting his trade with the Indians as he pleased 
and without any of their interference. Again the authorities wrote to Morton, 
reminding him of the royal proclamation concerning the sale of fire-arms to the 
Indians. To this he replied that King James' proclamation was not law and that 
he was prepared to defend himself against any attempt to molest his business 
or his plantation. Early in June, 1628, Capt. Miles Standish was despatched 
with eight men to suppress the Merrymount nuisance. Standish had evidently 
been coached by some of Morton's near neighbors, as he arrived at a time 
when most of the company were absent on a trading expedition. He found 
Morton at Wessaguscus, to which place he had gone, as he said, "for the benefit 
of company." Standish arrested him and placed him under guard. During a 
thunder storm that night, the prisoner managed to make his escape and went 
back to Merrymount, where he barricaded himself in his house, accompanied by 
his three retainers, one of whom Charles Francis Adams says "in the endeavor 
to stimulate his courage, got hopelessly and helplessly drunk." 

When Standish and his party arrived on the scene the next morning and 
demanded a surrender, Morton returned an insolent reply. The door was 
ordered to be broken down, when Morton came out, followed only by his 
drunken associate. He aimed his gun at Standish, but it was turned aside 
by one of the Plymouth party, after which Morton was again made prisoner and 
this time was taken to Plymouth. From there he was sent to England. Merry- 
mount being outside the jurisdiction of the Plymouth colony, it is clear that 
Morton's arrest and banishment was not strictly legal, but "desperate diseases 
yield only to desperate remedies," and the act was one of self-preservation. 

GOVERNOR ENDICOTT 

In September, 1628, about three months after the arrest of Morton, Governor 
Endicott and his company landed in Salem, under the patent of March 19, 1628, 
to those who afterward became known as the Massachusetts Bay Company. 
Endicott was a typical Puritan and when he learned of the doings of Morton 
(it is possible that he had received instructions regarding the Merrymount 



242 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

plantation before leaving England), he lost no time in taking action. With a 
small company he crossed the bay, suddenly appeared at the settlement, overawed 
the startled inhabitants, hewed down the maypole and warned them against the 
continuance of their pernicious practices. Bradford says the Merrymount 
people now changed the name of their place and called it Mount Dagon. 

Xo charge was placed against Morton in England and in some way Isaac 
Allerton, the London agent of the Plymouth Company, was induced to befriend 
him by helping him to get back to America. Late in the summer of 1629 he 
appeared at Plymouth, much to the chagrin of the inhabitants, and from there 
made his way to Merrymount, where he again assumed control. Although he 
did everything in his power to annoy Governor Endicott, it seems he was tolerated 
for a time. About Christmas Endicott sent men to arrest him, but he succeeded 
in eluding them and continued his annoyances. His company was reduced by 
this time to a mere fragment of its former proportions, probably not more than 
four or five men being left. Morton was finally arrested in the latter part of 
August, 1629, and on the 17th of September was arraigned for trial. He 
attempted a defense, but was ordered to hold his peace and hear his sentence, 
which was pronounced by Governor Winthrop. He was ordered to be set in the 
stocks for a certain length of time, at the end of which he was to be trans- 
ported to England, deprived of all his possessions, and have his house burned to 
the ground, "to the end that the habitation of the wicked should no more appear 
in Israel." Such was the end of Merrymount. 

PART OF BRAINTREE 

For several years after the expulsion of Morton the territory now comprising 
Ouincy was without a single white inhabitant. Not until the May session of the 
General Court in 1634 was it "ordered that Boston shall have convenient enlarge- 
ment at Mount Wollaston." On the 8th of December in the same year a grant 
of land at Mount Wollaston was made to Rev. John Wilson, pastor of the 
Boston Church, who was the first landowner in Ouincy under the Massachusetts 
charter. 

On January 4, 1636, the point of land which still bears his name was awarded 
to Atherton Hough, and at the same meeting a committee of five was appointed 
to make further individual allotments. Among those who received allotments 
under this arrangement were : William Hutchinson, husband of the noted Anne 
Hutchinson, William Coddington, Edmund Quincy, and Rev. John Wheelwright. 
The last named married a sister of William Hutchinson. He became minister 
at Mount Wollaston and as Anne Hutchinson was already engaged in a sort of 
feud with Rev. John Wilson when Wheelwright arrived in America in June, 
1636, she made haste to enlist him on her side. The next few years were taken 
up with church dissensions on account of this feud, and little progress was made 
in developing the Quincy settlement. In March, 1638, Governor Winthrop 
ordered Mrs. Hutchinson to leave the Massachusetts jurisdiction and she crossed 
the Neponset to join Wheelwright's family, intending to go to Portsmouth, but 
the plans were changed and they went to Rhode Island, where some of their 
adherents followed. 

After the expulsion of Mrs. Hutchinson and Wheelwright, more attention 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 243 

was paid to the settlement of the region and on May 13, 1640, the Town of 
Braintree, which included the present City of Quincy, was incorporated by act of 
the General Court. From this time until February, 1792, the reader is referred 
to the chapter on Braintree for the history of the events connected with Quincy. 
However, it may be well to state that the South Precinct — which included the 
present towns of Braintree, Randolph and Holbrook — was incorporated on 
November 5, 1708, and Quincy became the North Precinct of Braintree, remain- 
ing as such for more than half a century. 

THE TOWN INCORPORATED 

In the latter part of the year 1790 about one hundred and twenty inhabitants 
of the Braintree North Precinct, and a few of those living in Dorchester and 
Milton immediately south of the Neponset River, united in a petition to the 
General Court asking that they might be set off as a separate town. The petition 
came before the Senate in January, 1791, and about the same time a town meet- 
ing was called in Braintree to decide on some course of action regarding it. 

In the meantime the original South Precinct had become the Middle Precinct 
and a new South Precinct, embracing the present towns of Randolph and Hol- 
brook, had been organized. These two precincts now combined against the peti- 
tioners. A committee of six was appointed "to appear before the General Court 
by counsel to oppose the division of the town, and its representative was instructed 
to the same end." The petition went over until the next session, and in Septem- 
ber, 1 791, another town meeting was held "to make one more effort before the 
legislative committee to prevent the dismemberment of Braintree." The effort 
proved futile, for on February 22, 1792, Gov. John Hancock, who had been born 
and brought up in the territory, approved the act incorporating the Town of 
Quincy. 

While the act of incorporation was pending in the Legislature Rev. Anthony 
VY'ibird was requested to suggest a name for the town, something the petitioners 
had failed to do. He declined the honor and then Richard Cranch was asked 
to supply a name. He suggested the name Quincy, "in honor of Col. John 
Quincy." Some of the inhabitants wanted the town called Hancock, after Gov. 
John Hancock, who was then at the height of his personal popularity, though 
members of the Quincy family had been identified with the town almost from 
the very beginning. 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

This same Richard Cranch, who was a justice of the peace, was authorized by 
the organic act to issue his warrant for the first town meeting, which he did, 
calling the meeting for Thursday, March 8, 1792. The warrant was addressed 
to Lieut. Elijah Veazie, who notified the voters, and at the appointed time 
the citizens assembled and elected the following officers : Ebenezer Miller, John 
Hall and Benjamin Beale, Jr., selectmen and assessors; Eben Vesey (or Veazie), 
clerk ; Thomas B. Adams, treasurer ; Joseph N. Arnold, constable ; Peter Brackett 
and Jonathan Baxter, fence viewers; Peter Brackett, Ebenezer Nightingale, 
Jonathan Baxter, Samuel Bass and Jonathan Beale, surveyors of highways; 



244 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Peter Adams and John Sanders, hog reeves ; William Adams and William 
Sanders, tithingmen; Thomas Pratt, surveyor of boards and stileworks; John 
Billings, surveyor of hemp; Ebenezer Adams, packer of beef; Samuel Brown, 
culler of fish; Jonathan Webb, bread weigher; Thomas Cleverly, Jr., sealer of 
leather; John Nightingale and Lemuel Billings, hay wards; Edward W. Baxter 
and Samuel Nightingale, fire wards. 

From this formidable array of officials it would seem that Quincy started 
off on its career with an officer for every conceivable duty. Quite a number of 
the positions, such as bread weigher and culler of fish have long since passed 
out of existence. 

AN EARLY CUSTOM 

At the time Quincy was incorporated the custom prevailed in many of the 
New England towns, of warning undesirable inhabitants to leave within a given 
period, "or suffer the consequences." At a town meeting held on February 12, 
1793, the selectmen were instructed to issue warning to the following persons 
that their presence in Quincy was no longer to be tolerated : Thomas Welsh and 
wife, Barnabas Swift, Thomas Swift, Seth Joice, James McDaniels, Jacob Fowle 

and family, Linke Herd and family, Joseph Dorren, 1 — Copeland, John 

Paul and family, James Faxon and family, Gaius Thayer and family, William 
Jenkins and Patty Page. No reason is found in the records why these people were 
to be expelled so unceremoniously from the town, though it is evident that they 
were engaged in some questionable line of business, or in practices that affected 
the general moral welfare. No doubt the citizens of that day were more zealous 
in their efforts to exclude such people from their midst than are the people of 
modern Quincy. 

TOWN HALL 

Not long after the town was incorporated and the local government organized, 
a building was erected for a grammar school with a hall for holding town meet- 
ings. It was destroyed by fire on December 30, 18 15, and at the annual meeting 
on March 4, 18 16, a committee was appointed to recommend a plan for a new 
structure. The report of the committee was as follows : 

"Your committee are unanimously of the opinion that it will be expedient 
for the town to cause to be erected a building of sufficient dimensions to allow 
two school rooms on the lower floor, the second story to be reserved and con- 
veniently arranged as a town hall for the inhabitants to meet in. Your committee 
were also requested to report on a site for said building, but not having had 
time to give this point suitable consideration, would have it referred to another 
committee and they be chosen by ballot." 

The report was accepted and agreed to, and the second committee reported in 
favor of a building 30 by 55 feet, two stories high, "to be located on John 
Brinsler's lot next to the burying ground." They also reported that such a 
building would cost $2,200, if built of wood, or $3,600, if built of stone. Thomas 
Greenleaf, Benjamin Page, Thomas B. Adams, Edmund Billings and Josiah 
Adams were then appointed a committee to select a site on the training field. This 




CITY HALL, QUINCY 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 245 

action was reconsidered on June 24, 181 6, and after several sites had been 
examined it was voted on the 16th of July to accept the Brinsler lot, which was 
accordingly purchased for $339. The building was completed on July 21, 1817, 
at a cost of $2,127.19. 

In 1841 the question came before the annual meeting in March of building 
a new town house and it was voted to build it on land owned by Daniel French, 
provided the same could be purchased at a price not exceeding one thousand 
dollars. It seems that this was as far as the proposition went at that time, for 
on February 9, 1844, a movement was voted down in town meeting to purchase 
the Universalist Church and convert it into a town hall. At the same meeting 
a proposition to erect a stone building for town purposes was defeated. A com- 
mittee was then chosen to investigate the subject and recommend a course 
to be pursued at an adjourned meeting. The committee, consisting of Solomon 
Willard, John Savil, Gershom Clements, John A. Green and Noah Curtis, reported 
in favor of a frame structure, the estimated cost of which was $7,587, on a plan 
50 by 85 feet, two stories in height. 

The report was accepted and the treasurer was ordered to purchase the lots 
on the corner of Canal and Hancock streets, owned by Faxon & Willett, but the 
title was found to be defective. Daniel Baxter, Benjamin Page, James New- 
comb, John Souther and George Veazie were then appointed a building com- 
mittee, the proposition to erect a frame house was reconsidered and it was 
voted to build one of stone, on land to be bought of Daniel French. The build- 
ing was completed in 1844, at a cost of $19,115.93. In 1871 it was remodeled 
at a cost of $6,478 and is now the Quincy City Hall. In his inaugural address 
in 1917, Mayor Joseph L. Whiton said: 

"I find that there are seventeen department officials and boards, with their 
respective clerks, having offices in the basement of the City Hall. It seems 
incredible that a city of the size and importance of Quincy should require so 
many of its officials and boards to transact its business in a basement under such 
unhealthy conditions as exist in the basement of this hall. This condition of 
affairs should be remedied at once and other quarters provided for them. The 
reducing of the number of councilmen from twenty-three to nine will enable the 
council to transact its business in smaller quarters than formerly used. This will 
enable us to supply accommodations for some of these departments above the 
first floor of the hall. When these departments have been removed from the 
basement, the basement can be fitted up, made fireproof and equipped so as to 
be a very desirable place in which to preserve the records and archives of the 
city." 

From this extract from the mayor's inaugural address it can be seen that 
the city has outgrown the capacity of its municipal building and it will be but a 
few years until the question of a new one, more in keeping with the progressive 
spirit of the city, will have to be affirmed. 

Thomas Greenleaf, who was appointed chairman of the committee in 1816 
to select a site for the town hall, was an important factor in the development 
of Quincy about that time. He was born in Boston and graduated at Harvard 
in 1790. In 1803 he took up his residence in Quincy and soon manifested an 
interest in town affairs. Besides his connection with the building of the town 
hall, he caused the first almshouse to be built, securing an appropriation of 



246 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

$2,000 for this purpose, and under his efficient business methods the cost of 
maintaining the town poor was reduced about one-half. He died in Quincy in 
1854. 

QUINCY GRANITE 

Previous to the year 1825 little attention had been given to the value of the 
granite deposits of the town. In that year, on behalf of the Bunker Hill Monu- 
ment Association, Gridley B riant bought a quarry in West Quincy for the pur- 
pose of taking out stone for the monument. This stone had already been 
examined and approved by Solomon Willard, and the quarry is still known as 
the "Bunker Hill Quarry." Before the opening of this quarry, the rough, glacial 
bowlders which lay scattered about over the surface had alone been used for 
building purposes. King's Chapel in Boston was built of this kind of stone. 
Shortly after it was completed in 1852, a town meeting in Braintree voted to 
prohibit the removal of any more stone from the commons, because if the ship- 
ment of stone to Boston continued there would not be enough left for the town's 
own use. In 1803 Josiah Bemis, George Stearns and Michael Wild split a large 
stone with iron wedges. This opened the way for the working of the great 
granite deposits and Quincy granite is now known wherever stone is used for 
monumental or building purposes. The report of the Bureau of Statistics for 
191 5 gives returns from more than one hundred stone working concerns, having 
a combined capital of over two millions of dollars. 

POSTOFFICES 

The first postmaster in Quincy was Richard Cranch, whose commission was 
dated April 1, 1795. Mr. Cranch, it will be remembered, was the man who 
selected the name of Quincy for the town, and the justice of the peace who 
issued his warrant for the first town meeting. Several times he represented 
Braintree in the Qeneral Court and was afterward a judge of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas. At the time of his appointment as postmaster the rates of letter 
postage varied from six cents for carrying a letter thirty miles or less to twenty- 
four cents for carrying one 450 miles or more. He served as postmaster until 
his death in 181 1, and on January 1, 1812, Dr. Benjamin Vinton was appointed 
as his successor. During the period of his service, eastern and southern mails 
arrived and departed three times a week. 

The present handsome postoffice building in Quincy was completed early in 
the spring of 1909 and was occupied on the first of March of that year. Its cost, 
exclusive of the site, was a little over seventy thousand dollars. The office is 
now a station of Metropolitan Boston. Besides the postmaster and his assistant, 
the office employs twenty-six carriers and fifteen clerks. There is also one rural 
carrier. 

At the beginning of the year 191 7 the other offices within the city limits were 
located at Atlantic, Squantum and Wollaston, all of them being branches of 
the Boston postoffice. Some forty years ago there were postoffices at West 
Quincy and Quincy Point, but they have been discontinued. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 247 

CITIZENS GAS COMPANY 

Early in i860 Daniel P. Nye, F. M. Johnson and Eleazer Frederick applied 
to the Legislature for a charter to manufacture and sell gas to the town and 
people of Quincy. They and their associates were incorporated as "The Citizens 
Gas Light Company of Quincy," with power to own and hold real estate, manu- 
facture gas and make contracts for the sale of the same to the municipality and 
its inhabitants. The next year the town agrees by vote to pay for gas for street 
lamps for any persons who would erect lamp posts at their own expense, the 
posts to be a certain distance apart. This plan was followed for a few years, but 
in 1874 it was decided that coal gas was too expensive for illuminating the town, 
and it was voted to use naphtha gas instead. In 1876 the gas company reduced 
its prices and the town returned to the use of coal gas. Several years later the 
gas lights were displaced by electricity and the gas is now used chiefly for cook- 
ing and lighting private buildings. 

INCORPORATED AS A CITY 

Quincy was incorporated as a city by the act of May 17, 1888, Section 1 of 
which provides that "The inhabitants of the Town of Quincy shall, in case of 
the acceptance of this act by the voters of said town, as hereinafter provided, 
continue to be a body politic and corporate under the name of the City of Quincy, 
and as such shall have, exercise and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and 
privileges and shall be subject to all the duties and obligations now pertaining 
to and incumbent upon the said town as a municipal corporation." 

The act authorized the division of the town into six wards and the election 
of members of a city council — five of the members to be elected as councilmen 
at large and one from each ward. The executive authority is vested in a mayor, 
and the management of the public schools in a school committee. It was also 
provided that the first city election should be held on the first Tuesday in 
December and that the municipal year should begin on the first Monday in Janu- 
ary. The voters accepted the provisions of the act and on January 7, 1889, the 
city government of Quincy went into effect. 

Following is a list of the mayors since the incorporation of the city, together 
with the year when each assumed the duties of the office : Charles H. Porter, 
1889; Henry O. Fairbanks, 1891 ; William A. Hodges, 1894; C. F. Adams (2nd), 
1896; Russell A. Sears, 1898; Harrison A. Keith, 1899; John O. Hall, 1900; 
Charles M. Bryant, 1902; James Thompson, 1905; William T. Shea, 1908; 
Eugene R. Stone, 1912; John L. Miller, 1914 (died the same year and the unex- 
pired term filled by Joseph L. Whiton) ; Chester I. Campbell, 1915 ; Gustave B. 
Bates, 1916; Joseph L. Whiton, 1917. 

WATERWORKS 

The first move toward supplying the Town of Quincy with water was made 
on May 3, 1883, when the governor approved an act of the Legislature incor- 
porating William L. Faxon, John A. Gordon, John O. Holden, Charles H. Porter 
and their associates and successors as the "Quincy Water Company," with a 



248 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

capital stock not to exceed $250,000. By the provisions of the act the company- 
was authorized to take the waters of Town Brook, with all the other rights and 
privileges to which such corporations are entitled under the laws of Massa- 
chusetts. It was also provided in the act of incorporation that the Town of 
Quincy might purchase the franchise and property of the company, at a price to 
be mutually agreed upon, when two-thirds of the legal voters of the town gave 
their assent. 

In June, 1885, the company was given the right to supply the Town of 
Milton with water, and on June 11, 1891, two years after the incorporation of 
Quincy as a city, the Legislature, conferred upon the municipality the right 
to take the waters of Blue Hill River and certain of its tributaries as a water 
supply, and to issue bonds in any sum not exceeding $400,000 for the purpose of 
purchasing and developing the plant of the Quincy Water Company. The works 
were then purchased by the city and on June 13, 1892, another act was passed 
by the Legislature authorizing the mayor to appoint a board of water commis- 
sioners of three members. The same act increased the borrowing power of the 
city to not more than $700,000, to be known as the "Quincy Water Loan." 

At the close of the year 1916 the Quincy waterworks system embraced nearly 
one hundred and forty miles of mains, 1,119 hydrants, with 8,872 meters in use. 
The receipts from water rates for the year amounted to $155,624.67 and the 
expense of maintenance was $12,968.29. About three miles of additional mains 
were laid in 1916 and forty-one new hydrants installed, at a cost of nearly 
twenty-nine thousand dollars. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

Almost immediately after the town was incorporated in 1792, the citizens met 
and organized a Fire Association. Buckets, ladders and fire hooks were pur- 
chased and for many years this was the only fire department of which Quincy 
could boast. In 1812 a fund was raised by subscription and a hand engine 
was purchased. It was one of the kind that had to be filled with buckets and 
at a fire a line would be formed, the buckets passed from hand to hand to 
keep the engine supplied with water, while the firemen worked the pump. In 
cases where the supply of water was some distance from the fire, the engine 
would be drawn to the pond or rivers for a supply and then back to the fire, 
repeating the process until the fire was extinguished or the building burned down 
— more frequently the latter. The engine was called the "Columbia" and was 
stationed on Hancock Street. A little later another engine of the same type was 
purchased and named the "Adams." It was kept on School Street. 

In 1826 a law was passed exempting firemen from military duty. This stimu- 
lated interest in the fire companies of Quincy and a number offered their services 
as volunteers. The first suction engine — the "Niagara" — was purchased in 1840. 
Three more and a hook and ladder outfit were purchased in 1844. The new 
engines were named the "Vulture," which was located at the Point ; the "Tiger," 
stationed at South Quincy ; and the "Granite," in West Quincy. 

By the act of April 8, 1853, the town was authorized to establish a fire depart- 
ment, but little change was made for nearly twenty years. In 1874 a steam 
pump was bought, the town paying $350 and the balance being raised by sub- 
scription. Two years later a reservoir was built at Wollaston Heights in order 













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HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 249 

to store a volume of water to be used in case of fire. From that time additions 
were made to the department at intervals, until it reached its present state of 
efficiency. 

The Quincy fire department now has six stations, viz. : Central, Wollaston, 
Atlantic, West Quincy, Quincy Point and Hough's Neck. According to the 
report of Faxon Billings, chief of the department for the year 1916, the equip- 
ment of these stations was then as follows : Central, one steam fire engine and 
tractor, one auto combination ladder truck, two auto combination hose trucks, 
one chief's car, two spare hose wagons and one bobsled. Wollaston, one com- 
bination ladder truck and one combination hose wagon, both drawn by horses. 
Atlantic, one auto combination hose truck. West Quincy, one ladder truck and 
one hose wagon, both drawn by horses. Quincy Point, one combination hose 
wagon drawn by horses. Hough's Neck, one combination hose wagon, horse 
drawn. The value of all the apparatus, including horses, was estimated at 
$82,600. 

The department consists of a chief, three assistant chiefs, one captain, one 
lieutenant, the superintendent of fire alarm system, and thirty-five permanent 
men. During the year 1916 the department responded to 376 alarms. 

MODERN QUINCY 

According to the United States census of 1910, the population of Quincy was 
then 32,642. In 191 5 the state census reported 40,674, a gain of 8,032 in five 
years. The city has four banks, two daily newspapers (the Patriot-Ledger and 
the Telegram), twenty-five churches of different denominations, seventeen public 
school buildings, a number of well stocked stores, and more than one hundred 
and fifty prosperous manufacturing establishments. Quincy is located on the 
line of the Boston & Plymouth division of the New York, New Haven & Hart- 
ford railway system, only eight miles from Boston, and is connected with the 
adjoining towns by electric railway lines. The assessed valuation of property 
in 1916, as reported by the board of assessors, was $62,789,130, and in his annual 
report the city treasurer announced a municipal indebtedness of $1,570,521.15 
— nearly forty dollars in assets for every dollar of liabilities. 

CITY GOVERNMENT 

Following-is a list of the principal city officials at the commencement of the 
year 1917 : Joseph L. Whiton, mayor; Emery L. Crane, clerk; Walter E. Piper, 
treasurer; Charles A. Hadlock, collector of taxes; Moses L. Brown, commis- 
sioner of public works; William Campbell, overseer of the poor; Frederick 
E. Tupper, Charles A. McFarland and Michael T. Sullivan, assessors ; James 
H. Slade, Philip R. Guinan and Alexander A. Robertson, Jr., park commis- 
sioners ; Daniel R. McKay, chief of police ; Faxon Billings, chief of the fire 
department ; Walter H. Buchan, Dr. Michael T. Sweeney and Tupper G. Miller, 
board of health. 

The city council, the legislative branch of the government, was composed 
of Alfred H. Richards (president), Thomas Griffin, Thomas J. McGrath, Rus- 
sell A. Sears, John D. Smith, Lewis Bass, William A. Bradford, Alexander 
Falconer and Rodney P. Gallagher. Regular meetings of the council are held 
on the first and third Thursday evenings of each month. 



CHAPTER XXIX 
THE TOWN OF RANDOLPH 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION — CIVIC HISTORY — PETITION FOR DIVISION OF BRAINTREE 

THE REMONSTRANCE — ACT OF INCORPORATION THE TOWN NAME FIRST TOWN 

MEETINGS DIVISION OF RANDOLPH — TOWN HALL — FIRE DEPARTMENT WATER- 
WORKS — RANDOLPH TODAY — ROSTER OF TOWN OFFICERS IN I917. 

Randolph lies in the southeastern portion of Norfolk County. On the north it 
is bounded by the Town of Milton and the City of Quincy; on the east by 
Braintree ; on the southeast by Holbrook ; and on the west by Canton and Stough 
ton. Great Pond lies on the line between Randolph and Braintree, and Ponka- 
poag Pond on the line between Randolph and Canton. The Blue Hill or 
Monatiquot River forms the northern boundary line, and there are several small 
streams flowing into Great Pond. The surface is generally rolling, but in the 
valleys are fertile farms and fine orchards, giving the town an air of thrift and 
prosperity. 

CIVIC HISTORY 

Randolph has been called the daughter of Braintree and the mother of 
Holbrook. When Braintree was incorporated in 1640 it embraced the present 
towns of Braintree, Quincy, Randolph and Holbrook. Fifty years later the 
population numbered nearly three thousand. The town was then divided into 
three precincts. — North, South and Middle. The North Precinct included prac- 
tically what is now the City of Quincy ; the Middle Precinct, the present Town 
of Braintree; and the South Precinct, the present towns of Randolph and Hol- 
brook. Quincy was set off as a town on February 22, 1792, and immediately 
afterward the inhabitants of the South Precinct began to insist upon a similar 
privilege. At a meeting held at the South Precinct meeting house on March 
15, 1792, Dr. Ephraim Wales, Nathaniel Niles, Joseph White, Samuel Bass, 
Seth Turner and Samuel Niles were appointed a committee, "with discretionary 
power," to take the necessary steps to effect a separation between the precinct 
and the Town of Braintree, and to "sustain the claims of the South Parish 
for a division before the General Court, or doing anything they may think proper 
for the purpose aforesaid." 

At another meeting on June 15, 1792, for which the inhabitants of the pre- 
cinct had been specially warned, it was voted that, "Whereas a Petition has 
been presented to the Generall Court for a division of the Town of Braintree, by 
a large number of Signers Hon. Samuel Niles, Dr. Ephraim Wales, Samuel Bass, 
Col. Seth Turner, Seth Mann, Joseph White and Lieut. Nathaniel Niles be 

250 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 251 

chose a committee with discretionary Powers to sustane the Aforesaid petition 
until the passage of it be Granted." 

The Town of Braintree — or rather the Middle Precinct — opposed the division 
of the town, and a counter petition was presented to the General Court. As these 
petitions throw considerable light upon the situation as it then existed, they are 
reproduced in full. 

PETITION FOR DIVISION 

"To the Hon ble Senate and the Hon ble House of Representatives in General 
Court assembled: 

"The Petition of the Inhabitants of the South Precinct of Braintree respect- 
fully shews That your Petitioners from long Experience have found the incon- 
venience of being Connected with the other parts of the Town of Braintree, As 
the town is very long and narrow — the Centre of said South Precinct is more 
than five miles distant from the Middle Precinct meeting house, which is the 
usual and most convenient place of holding Town Meetings while the town is in 
its present form which makes it necessary that nearly one half of your Peti- 
tioners should travel five miles and Upwards to attend every Town Meeting, or 
otherwise which is frequently the case: They are obliged to submit to the Centre 
of the Town's transacting the whole of the Business which they do as your 
Petitioners think with a very Partial Eye to their own Interests. 

"And as Travelling is often very bad at March and April meetings it is 
difficult & Many times impossible for Elderly & Infirm people to improve the 
Privileges they might otherwise do & which every free man wishes to Enjoy. 
Many other Disadvantages peculiar to your Petitioners extreem situation in 
the Town will be made more fully to appear should your Honors grant them 
a hearing 

"And your Petitioners wish further to sugest that the South Precinct afore- 
said in its present form is very incommodious & Irregular and was owing 
originaly to a Cause which now ceases to exist, Viz. When the Division of the 
Middle and South Precinct was first Proposed the Rev d M r Niles was Minister 
of Both in One & owned a large farm which incircled several other farms that 
lay within the Bounds of the proposed South Precinct. But the Rev d M r Niles 
being willing his own farm should lye within the limits of his own parish opposed 
the South Parish going off unless he might be thus Gratified and as he was then 
a man of much Influence your Petitioners were obliged to relinquish said farms 
or continue very much to their Disadvantage a part of his parish & the former 
of the two evils they submitted to— Now circumstances relative to said farms 
are far different. A considerable part of M r Nile's farm is now owned by 
Residents of the South Precinct & the Proprietors of the other farms aforesaid 
are desirous of improving the advantages they ought long since to have enjoyed 
by joining the South Precinct as they are much nearer to that meeting than their 
own. Your petitioners wish therefore to be set off from the other Parts of the 
Town of Braintree in connection with the proprietors of the aforesaid farms 
as a separate town : and they as in duty bound shall ever pray." 

The petition was signed by Ephraim Wales, Seth Turner, Levi Thayer, 
Ebenezer Alden. John Stetson, Richard Belcher, Nathaniel Niles, Benjamin Man, 



252 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Seth Man, Joseph White, "and one hundred and ten others,'' and on the back of 
the original in the state archives is the indorsement: "In the House of Repre- 
sentatives Jan r 17 111 1792. Read & Committed to the Standing Committee on 
Incorporations to consider report. Sent up for concurrence." Signed by D. 
Cobb, speaker. Then follows a similar indorsement, signed by Samuel Phillips as 
president of the senate, showing the concurrence by that body on January 18, 
1792. 

THE REMONSTRANCE 

"We the Subscribers Inhabitants of the now North Precinct in Braintree being 
Deeply imprest with the Disagreeable Situation of this once Respectable Town 
of Braintree A Town which has Produced some of the First characters among 
man kind and even those who have arisen to Exalted Stations amongst the 
Rulers of our Country. The old North Precinct are Already got off from us 
and Incorporated into a Town by the Name of Quincy and our Breathren of 
the South Precinct are now Petitioning the General Court to be set off and incor- 
porated into a Town by Some other Name should the Prayer of their Petition 
be Granted there will be but a small Part of their old Town of Braintree left 
to bare up the Name it appears to us that the Reasons Why our Breathren in the 
South Precinct are aiming to git off from us is that they Suppose the Number of 
Inhabitants in this Now North Precinct will be Greater than in the South Pre- 
cinct & by that means they will be Exposed to have Voted from them those 
Privilege which they have a Just right to. Now to Ease the minds of our 
Breathren in that Respect We the Subscribers do hereby upon our Words and 
Honour Which in the Nature of the thing is the Strongest Obligation that we can 
lay our Selves' under Engage that we Will at All times as far as we are Able 
prevent their having Just Cause of Complaint in that Respect & We do hereby 
Declare that if they will Withdraw their Petition Which we think will be to 
their Advatage as Well as ours and Equally so that We are Willing that the 
meetings Shall be held Alternately & that our Breathren of the said South 
Precinct shall have Every advantage from the Suffrages of the People at Large 
if we Continue together Without Seperation Which they Shall have any just 
reason to Expect & at the same time that We May Experience the same benevo- 
lence from then & that We may Continue together in Brotherly Love & Unity 
is the Sincear and Hearty Wish of Us the Subscribers." 

This remonstrance was signed by James Faxon, Elisha French, Adam Hobart, 
Jonathan Thayer, Abraham Thayer, William Allen, Nehemiah Hayden, Samuel 
Holbrook, and "sixty-three other residents of the North Precinct," but it bears 
no evidence that it was ever seriously considered by the General Court. The 
advocates of division were well organized and presented their cause with such 
force that they finally won their object through the passage of the following 

ACT OF INCORPORATION 

"An Act for incorporating the South Precinct of the Town of Braintree, in 
the County of Suffolk, into a separate Town by the name of Randolph. 

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 253 

General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the lands com- 
prised within the South Precinct in Braintree, as the same is now bounded, with 
the inhabitants dwelling thereon, be, and 'they hereby are,, incorporated into a 
town by the name of Randolph; and the said Town of Randolph is hereby 
invested with all the powers, privileges and immunities to which towns within 
this Commonwealth are, or may be, entitled, agreeably to the Constitution and 
Laws of the said Commonwealth." 

"Section 2. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, That the 
inhabitants of the said Town of Randolph shall pay all the arrears of taxes 
which have been assessed upon them by the Town of Braintree, and shall sup- 
port any poor person or persons who have heretofore, been, or now are, in- 
habitants of that part of Braintree which is hereby incorporated and are or may 
become chargeable, and who shall not have obtained a settlement elsewhere when 
they may become chargeable ; and such poor person or persons may be returned 
to the Town of Randolph, in the same way and manner that paupers may, by 
law, be returned to the town or district to which they belong. And the inhabitants 
of the said Town of Randolph shall pay their proportion of all debts now due 
from the Town of Braintree, and shall be entitled to receive their proportion of 
all debts due to the said Town of Braintree; and also their proportionable part 
of all other property of the said Town of Braintree, of what kind and descrip- 
tion soever : Provided always, That the lands belonging to the said Town of 
Braintree, for the purpose of maintaining schools, shall be divided between 
the said Town of Braintree and the said Town of Randolph, in the same pro- 
portion as they were respectively assessed for the payment of the last state tax. 

"Section 3. And be it further enacted, That any of the inhabitants now 
dwelling within the bounds of the said Town of Randolph, who have remon- 
strated against the division of the Town of Braintree, and who may be desirous 
of belonging to said Town of Braintree, shall, at any time within six months 
from the passing of this act, by returning their names to the Secretary's Office, 
and signifying their desire of belonging to said Braintree, have that privilege, 
and shall, with their polls and estates, belong to and be a part of said Braintree, 
by paying their proportion of all taxes which shall have been laid on said town 
of Randolph, previously to their thus returning their names, as they would by 
law have been holden to pay had they continued to be a part of the Town of 
Randolph. 

"Section 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That 
Samuel Xiles, Esq., be and he is hereby authorized to issue his warrant, directed 
to some principal inhabitant of the said town of Randolph, requiring him to 
warn and give notice to the inhabitants of the said town, to assemble and meet 
at some suitable time and place in the said Town of Randolph, as soon as con- 
veniently may be, to choose all such officers as towns are required to choose at 
their annual town meeting in the month of March or April annually." 

This bill passed the House on March 5, 1793, and was sent to the Senate, 
which passed it the next day. On the 9th it was approved by Gov. John Han- 
cock, and from that day the Town of Randolph dates its corporate existence. 
An indorsement attached to the original copy of the act in the state archives 
shows that Levi and Timothy Thayer, Abraham Jones, Noah and Samuel Chees- 



254 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

man, claimed the privilege extended by Section 3 and remained inhabitants of 
Braintree. 

THE TOWN NAME 

The town was named for Peyton Randolph, who was born in Virginia in 
j 723, the second son of Sir John Randolph. After graduating at William and 
Mary's College he studied law in London and at the age of twenty-five was 
appointed royal attorney for Virginia. Soon after this he was elected a member 
of the Virginia House of Burgesses and was appointed chairman of a committee 
to revise the laws of the colony. In 1764 he framed the remonstrance of the 
House of Burgesses against the passage of the Stamp Act. He was the presi- 
dent of the First Continental Congress, which met at Philadelphia on September 
5, 1774, and was again chosen for that position when Congress reassembled at 
Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. Mr. Randolph died of apoplexy at Philadelphia 
on October 22, 1775. The naming of this Norfolk County town in his honor was 
a fitting tribute to one who devoted his life to the interests of the American 
colonists. 

FIRST TOWN MEETINGS 

Pursuant to the authority conferred by Section 4 of the organic act, Samuel 
Niles issued his warrant for a town meeting to be held on Monday, April 1, 
1793. Dr. Ephraim Wales was chosen moderator, after which the meeting pro- 
ceeded to elect the following town officers : Micah White, Jr., Dr. Ebenezer Alden 
and Joseph White, Jr., selectmen ; Samuel Bass, clerk and treasurer. Samuel 
Bass, Nathaniel Niles and Seth Turner were appointed a committee to settle 
with the Town of Braintree. 

At a second meeting held on Thursday, May 16, 1793, Samuel Bass was 
elected representative to the General Court, and at the annual meeting in 1794 
all the town officers chosen the preceding year were reelected. At the same time 
it was voted "That the committee appointed to settle with Braintree shall apply 
for a division of powder and balls, and in case there is a deficiency the selectmen 
are requested to procure more." The selectmen were also requested to ''build 
a powder house in some suitable place, according to their discretion." 

DIVISION OF RANDOLPH 

When the town was first established in 1793, it extended southward to the 
county line. Through a narrow valley running north and south ran a narrow 
riverbed, in which flowed the Cochato River. Two villages grew up on roads 
about a mile apart, the one on the east side of the Cochato being known as East 
Randolph, and the other as West Randolph. When the railroad now known as 
the Boston & Middleboro division of the New York, New Haven & Hartford 
system was built, the station on the east side was given the name of "Randolph." 
A few years later the railroad from Boston to Taunton was built down the west 
side of the valley, passing through West Randolph. Some of the citizens enter- 
tained a hope that the two villages would grow together, but the hope was never 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 255 

realized. In 1872 East Randolph was set off as the Town of Holbrook (see 
Chapter XIX) and the name of the railroad station was changed to correspond 
to that of the new town. The word "West" was then dropped from the other 
village, which has since been merely known as "Randolph." 

TOWN HALL 

Randolph's town hall, which was the gift of Amasa Stetson, was dedicated 
in 1842. It is a substantial frame structure, the cost of which was about ten 
thousand dollars, and is centrally located. Amasa Stetson was born in Randolph 
in March, 1769, while the town was still a part of Braintree. He learned the 
trade of shoemaker, went to Boston, where he became associated with his brother 
Samuel in the shoe business and thus laid the foundation of a large fortune. He 
died on August 2, 1844, leaving a fortune of over half a million dollars and 
no children. The lower story of the town hall was used for some time for high 
school purposes. A few years ago the building, called "Stetson Hall," in honor 
of the donor, was thoroughly remodeled. Mr. Stetson also left the town a fund 
of ten thousand dollars for educational purposes. It is known as the "Stetson 
School Fund," and the income is used for the support of the public schools. 
In 1916 the trustees of the fund reported the amount of the fund as being 
$19,488.63, invested in interest bearing bonds and bank stock. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

Soon after the town was incorporated a fire company was organized and 
for many years the old hand engines— "Fire-King," "Independence" and "Fear- 
less" — responded to fire alarms with as much "pomp and circumstance" as the 
more efficient fire departments of modern days. When Holbrook was set off 
in 1872, the question of a better fire department came up in the town meetings, 
and during the next decade great improvements in the service were made by 
the purchase of two steam fire engines, a hook and ladder truck and two hose 
wagons. 

In 191 5 a new combination auto fire truck was purchased by the town and 
placed in commission by the board of fire engineers. On July 30, 1916, the old 
department was disbanded and two days later was reorganized on the basis of 
sixteen men to be known as "Combination Company No. 1"; nine men as "Hose 
Company No. 1"; six men as "Hose Company No. 2"; eight men as "Hook and 
Ladder Company No. 1"; and an engineer and stoker for "Steamer No. t." 
The cost of the department for the year 1916 was $1,860. The board of engineers 
was then composed of Richard F. Forrest, James H. Meany, George Stetson 
and M. F. Sullivan. 

WATERWORKS 

By an act of the Legislature, approved May 8, 1885, the towns of Braintree, 
Randolph and Holbrook were authorized to supply themselves with water from 
Great Pond, severally or jointly, and to be united in the construction of build- 
ings, etc. Braintree did not accept the provisions of the act, but Randolph and 



256 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Holbrook each issued bonds to the amount of $100,000 (the maximum authorized 
by the act) and established a joint system of waterworks, which were completed 
in the summer of 1886. During the year 191 6, according to the report of the 
water commissioners, the cost of maintenance was $9,898.91, which included 
$1,232 for interest on outstanding bonds and $2,303.49 for extension of the 
mains to new districts. The receipts for the year amounted to $12,953. The 
amount of water consumed during the year was 146,720,000 gallons. 

After the first issue of bonds other issues were authorized by the Legislature, 
with the stipulation that a sinking fund should be established for their redemp- 
tion when due. At the close of the year 1916 the amount of bonds outstanding 
was $107,200, and there was then in the sinking fund $74,286.28 and $2,385.14 
in cash in the hands of the town treasurer, leaving a net indebtedness of 
$30,528.58. As the last of the bonds do not fall due until July 1, 1926, it is 
evident that Randolph's waterworks will be paid for according to the original 
plan. 

RANDOLPH TODAY 

Of the twenty-eight towns in Norfolk County, Randolph in 19 15 stood four- 
teenth in population and eighteeth in the assessed valuation of property. The 
number of inhabitants, according to the state census, was then 4,734, a gain of 
433 since the United States census of 1910. The assessed valuation of property 
was $3,252,912. In 1916 the assessors reduced the valuation to $2,879,100, merely 
as a matter of equalization. 

The town has two banks, five public school buildings, eighteen teachers in the 
public schools, churches of various denominations, electric light, some manufac- 
turing concerns, though this line of business is not as great as in the years 
immediately following the Civil war, a fine public library, lodges of the leading 
fraternal orders, mercantile establishments in keeping with the demands of the 
town, steam and electric railway transportation, a weekly newspaper (the News), 
and a money order postoffice which has one rural route that supplies daily mail 
to the surrounding country. The visitor to Randolph cannot fail to be impressed 
with the air of neatness that attaches to the many cozy homes — the chief charm 
of the town. 

TOWN OFFICERS, I917 

Following is a list of the principal town officials at the beginning of the 
year 1917: James Ff. Dunphy, Michael E. Clark and Jeremiah J. Desmond, 
selectmen and overseers of the poor; Arthur W. Alden, Michael E. Clark and 
James H. Dunphy, assessors ; Patrick H. McLaughlin, clerk and treasurer; Richard 
F. Forrest, William F. Barrett and John B. McNeil, water commissioners; 
Michael F. Cunningham, John B. Wren and John K. Willard, auditors ; Jeremiah 
J. Desmond, tax collector; Edward Long, George V. Higgins and Edmund K. 
Belcher, school committee ; Joseph Belcher, representative to the General Court ; 
Frank J. Donahue, Michael F. Sullivan, John J. Madigan, Frank W. Harris, Fred 
O. Evans and Fred Vye, constables ; Frank M. Condon, Patrick H. McLaughlin, 
H. F. Howard and John H. Field, registrars of voters. 



CHAPTER XXX 
THE TOWN OF SHARON 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES — TOPOGRAPHY — EARLY HISTORY — PETITION FOR A PRE- 
CINCT — THE ANSWER — FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR — DISTRICT OF STOUGHTONHAM 
— FIRST DISTRICT OFFICERS — THE FIRST CANNON — BUNKER HILL — THE TOWN 
OF SHARON — POSTOFFICES — TOWN HALL — WATERWORKS — FIRE DEPARTMENT — 
MODERN SHARON — TOWN OFFICERS. 

The Town of Sharon is situated in the southern part of the county, extending 
southward to the county line. On the north it is bounded by the towns of 
Norwood and Walpole ; on the east by Canton and Stoughton ; on the south by 
Bristol County; and on the west by Foxboro. The Neponset River just touches 
the northeast corner, and Traphole Brook forms a little of the boundary line 
between Sharon and Norwood. 

TOPOGRAPHY 

The surface of Sharon is varied. Moose Hill, in the western part is the 
highest elevation. Its summit is said to be about six hundred feet above the 
level of the sea. It received its name from the fact that in early days it was 
a favorite haunt of the moose. Only a few years before the beginning of the 
Revolution deer reeves were elected by the people of Stoughton (of which 
Sharon was then a part) for the protection of the moose and deer that inhabited 
the forests about this hill. A winding road leads to the top of the hill, where 
in the days immediately preceding the Revolution was lighted "the signal fires 
of liberty." In later years an observatory was built there. From the observatory 
can be seen Mount Wachusett, the hills of New Hampshire and Rhode Island, 
the Blue Hills of Milton, and the Neponset Valley is spread out like a panorama. 

One can readily infer how Rattlesnake Hill, a high, rocky ridge in the south- 
eastern part of the town, received its name. The slopes of this ridge are 
covered with a growth of timber that affords an excellent place of abode for 
the serpent that gave name to the elevation. The road to North Easton passes 
over this ridge. 

There are a number of smaller hills, such as Bald Hill, Bluff Head and Bul- 
lard's Hill. From the southern part of Bullard's Hill a fine view of the Village of 
Sharon may be seen. Along the foot of the hill runs the little brook, fed by 
springs, called by the Indians Maskwonicut, but to which the white settlers 
gave the name of Puffer's Brook. 

Near the center of the town is Lake Massapoag, a pretty body of water, 
bearing an Indian name signifying "Great Water." About thirty or forty years 

Vol. 1—17 

257 



258 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

ago the lake was stocked with fish — black bass, white perch, land-locked salmon, 
etc. — and along its shores have been built quite a number of summer residences 
by people from Boston, who come from the city during the hot weather to enjoy 
the scenery and rest. 

In the western part is Wolomolopoag Pond, which in the Indian language 
means "deep, pleasant water." The outlet of this pond flows in a southerly 
direction and on its banks was built the first house in what is now the Town 
of Sharon. It was built by some one about 1660 or a few years earlier, and 
being located on the old Boston and Bristol post road was occupied by Captain 
Billings as a tavern in 1675. The pond above mentioned is sometimes called 
Billings' Pond. On the southern boundary lies Wilbur Pond — also known as 
Leach's Reservoir. 

In the eastern part of the town are some good granite quarries, and in early 
days considerable quantities of bog iron ore were obtained here. 

EARLY HISTORY 

When the Town of Stoughton was incorporated in December, 1726, it included 
all the territory south of the Blue Hills and extended from Readville to the south 
line of Suffolk (now Norfolk) County. The west line of Stoughton was nearly 
twenty miles long, and the average width of the town from east to west was about 
ten miles. In this large town was included the present Town of Sharon. The 
colonial laws of that period required the towns to support churches and the 
people to attend public worship on Sunday. Stoughton was so large that it was 
inconvenient for many of the people to attend the church supported by the 
town, which was located at Canton Corner, hence those living adjacent to other 
towns attended worship where it was most convenient. After some ten or 
twelve years, the people living about Lake Massapoag decided to ask the General 
Court to establish a town or precinct for their benefit, and the result of their 
agitation was the following 

PETITION 

"To His Excellency Jonathan Belcher Esqr. Captain-General and Governor 
in Chief in and over His Majesties Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New 
England — and the Honourable His Majesties Council & House of Representa- 
tives of ye General Court assembled in Boston on ye Eighth day of June 1739. 

"The petition of John Hixson and Benjamin Johnson committee to Prefer 
a petition to this Court in behalfe of ye subscribers Inhabitants of ye Southerly 
part of Stoughton humbly sheweth that Whereas by the Providence of the All 
Disposing God our lots are fallen to us at so greate a Distance from the Publick 
Worship of God in ye North part of ye sayd town that your Petitioners cannot 
ever without greate difficulty attend the Publick worship of God. Wherefore we 
have petitioned the Town once and Again to be eased of the greate Difficultyes 
we now labor under but have been by them rejected Notwithstanding the greate 
length of way which some of your Petitioners live from ye Publick Worship in 
ye sayd North Part about eight or nine miles And in Consideration of our greate 
Duty to attend ye Publick Worship of God not only Our selves but by our 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 259 

familyes and Children which by the Blessing of God are greately increased There- 
fore your Petitioners have of late Petitioned this Honourable Court to be sett 
oft" a seperate town or Precinct, but this Honourable Court did not see Cause 
to grant ye Petition. The reason as we Humbly conceve was the answers to the 
Petition which were wrong & erroneous. 

"Therefore your Petitioners humbly Pray this Honourable Court to see with 
your own Eyes by sending a Committee to view ye circumstances at the charge 
& cost of ye Petitioners that this Honourable Court may be rightly Informed & 
see the Unjust procedings of the Honourable respondents & their fallacious 
answers to our former petitions & as your Petitioners are Obliged by Conscience 
and Law to attend the Worship of God they have by a free Contribution main- 
tained preaching amongst them selves for a Considerable time Notwithstanding 
they have alsoe payed their proportional Part to ye North Part where they can 
have but little or none advantage. And we would beg leave to Inform this Hon- 
ourable Court that since we have had preaching amongst us it has encouraged 
some well minded Persons to come & Settle within the limitts herein Petitioned 
& if it should Please the Honourable Court to Grant our Petition it would be a 
greate encourragement to a greate many more if your Petitioners were in a 
Capacity to have the Ordinances of God administered amongst them & your Peti- 
tioners having had some Experience by their Having maintained preaching 
amongst them selves they look on them selves as able to Maintain the Worship 
of God. Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray this Honourable Court that 
they would please send a Committee to view our Circumstances that so your 
Petitioners may be put into a Capacity that they may have the ordinances of the 
Saviour Settled amongst them in a regular Order by setting them off as a dis- 
trict and seperate Town or Precinct viz : 

(Here follows a description of the boundary lines including the present towns 
of Sharon and Foxboro, after which the petition continues:) 

"We humbly beg leave here to say that what we now offer in Respect to our 
being sett off is in sincerity for the promoting of the Worship of God and 
Religion in its purity amongst us. Wherefore we pray Your Excellency & 
Honours would be pleased to hear our request and grant our petition and as in 
duty bound shall ever pray." 

The signers of this petition, in the order in which their names appear, were 
as follows: Benjamin Estey, Timothy Tolman, Isaac Cumings, John Smith, 
William Colwell, Samuel Cumings, William Richards, Samuel Estey, Samuel 
Dwelly, Nathaniel Coney, Pelatiah Whittemore, Eleazer Puffer, Joseph Ingra- 
ham, Samuel Lovel, Matthias Puffer, Abraham Chandler, Ebenezer Estey, 
William Webb, Mahew Tupper, Stephen Holland, Benjamin Perry, Joshua 
Johnson, Josiah Perry, Eliakim Perry, John Noyes, Eleazer Hawes, Job Swift, 
Jacob Estey, Daniel Richards, Joshua Whittemore, Ebenezer Hewins, Edward 
Belcher, Jeremiah Belcher, Matthew Hobbs, Clifford Belcher, Ephraim Payson, 
Samuel Bird, Thomas Randall, Thomas Rogers, Ebenezer Capen, William Wood 
and Nathan Clark. 

THE ANSWER 

To this petition the inhabitants of the north part of Stoughton prepared a 
response, in which they said: "The Petitioners have used a great deal of Craft 



260 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

in the course they have pursued, in as much as the Town now owes the minister 
about eighty pounds (i8o) & the town has just layed out nearly one hundred 
pounds (£100) in building a Road for the petitioners to go to Meeting & now 
they have built a Church near their own Doors & ask to be set off as Town or 
Precinct." 

The General Court appointed a committee as asked for in the petition, and 
after visiting the territory the committee unanimously reported in favor of 
granting the prayer of the petitioners. A bill to that effect passed both branches 
of the General Court and it was approved by the governor on July 2, 1740. At 
a meeting of the inhabitants held soon afterward, John Hixson, Ephraim Pay- 
son and Daniel Richards were elected a committee to manage the affairs of the 
precinct, and Ebenezer Hewins was chosen treasurer. On January 5, 1742, Rev. 
Philip Curtis was called to the pastorate of the Second Precinct, and the meeting 
house mentioned in the petition was completed in 1744. 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 

In this conflict quite a number of the citizens of the Second Precinct volun- 
teered as members of the company commanded by Capt. Elkanah Billings. 
Among them were some who signed the petition asking for the establishment of 
the precinct, notably Samuel Cumings, Nathan Clark, Mayhew Tupper and 
Benjamin Estey. Samuel Billings was lieutenant of the company; Eleazer 
Robbins, ensign; Elijah Billings, Timothy Morse and Ebenezer Billings, ser- 
geants; Daniel Morse, Benjamin Rhoads and William Savage, corporals; 
Eleazer Fisher, clerk; Ebenezer Bullard, drummer; and Seth Lane, fifer. The 
company served in Colonel Miller's regiment about Crown Point, Ticonderoga 
and Fort William Henry. 

Capt. Ebenezer Mann of this precinct raised a company, most of the mem- 
bers of which came from Wrentham. The volunteers from Sharon fought side 
by side with the British regulars and acquitted themselves in such a manner that 
the precinct afterward profited by their services. The war closed in 1763 and 
not long after that the inhabitants of the Second Precinct decided to ask the 
General Court to be set off as a separate town, or at least to be made a district, 
whereby they would enjoy greater civil and political privileges. 

DISTRICT OF STOUGHTONHAM 

Early in the year 1765 Joseph Hewins, Jr., Jeremiah Fuller and William 
Richards were appointed a committee to present a petition to the General Court 
asking that the Second Precinct of Stoughton be made a separate town or dis- 
trict, and this committee emphasized the services of the men who went out from 
the precinct in the French and Indian war as an argument why the petition 
should be granted. It does not appear that the Town of Stoughton offered any 
serious objections and on June 21, 1765, the following act was passed: 

"anno regni regis georgii tertii quinto 

"An Act for incorporation the Second Precinct in the Town of Stoughton, 
in the County of Suffolk (as it now is), into a District by the name of 
Stoughtonham. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 261 

"Whereas, the inhabitants of the Second Precinct in Stoughton labor under 
great difficulties, by reason of their distance from the place where town meetings 
are held in said town : 

"Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and House of Representatives, 
That the Second Precinct in the Town of Stoughton, by the same bounds and 
limits which the said Second Precinct now have, be, and hereby are, incorpo- 
rated into a separate district by the name of Stoughtonham ; and that the inhab- 
itants thereof be vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities which the 
inhabitants of any town within this province do, or by law ought to enjoy — 
excepting only the privilege of sending a representative to the General Assembly 
— and that the inhabitants of said district shall have liberty, from time to time, 
to join with the Town of Stoughton in the choice of a representative," etc. 

FIRST DISTRICT OFFICERS 

Pursuant to the authority conferred upon him by the above mentioned act, 
Joseph Hewins, justice of the peace, issued his warrant to Richard Hixson, as 
one of the principal inhabitants of the district, to notify and warn the legal 
voters of the district to meet on July 8, 1765, for the purpose of electing such 
officers as by law the district was entitled to choose. At the appointed time 
Daniel Richards, Job Swift and Thomas Randall were elected selectmen and 
assessors, and Daniel Richards, clerk and treasurer. 

The district was now in a condition to manage its own affairs, take care of 
its own poor, divide the school money with the Town of Stoughton, and a 
settlement with that town was effected without trouble or ill feeling. 

THE FIRST CANNON 

It may not be generally known that the first cannon cast in America were 
made in the Town of Sharon while it was the District of Stoughtonham. In 
the spring of 1767 Edmund Quincy, Jr., came to the district and bought a farm 
on the east shore of Massapoag Lake. One day while walking along the shore 
of the lake he noticed the indications of iron ore in considerable quantities. 
Realizing that in case of a war with the mother country, which then seemed 
imminent, this ore would be of great value to the colonies in the manufacture 
of heavy guns, he communicated the information of his discovery to his friend 
Richard Gridley of Boston. Colonel Gridley was the only American who knew 
anything regarding the manufacture of cannon, having been an engineer in the 
colonial service. Mr. Quincy purchased of the Dorchester proprietors the right 
to take the ore. He then formed a sort of partnership with Colonel Gridley 
and Joseph Jackson and bought the furnace that had been erected by Ebenezer 
Mann in the south part of the district. The first cannon were completed in 
1775, and Colonel Gridley, who had in the meantime become the chief engineer 
of the Continental army, came out to the works to test them. The test proved 
satisfactory and the guns were used on various fields of the Revolution. 

BUNKER HILL 

When the "Lexington Alarm" was sounded through Massachusetts on 
April 19, 1775, two companies, commanded by Capt. Samuel Payson and Capt. 



262 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Israel Smith, marched from Stoughtonham (See chapter on the Revolution). 
But there was one incident connected with the War for Independence that 
belongs peculiarly to Sharon history, and is thus told by Solomon Talbot : 

"It was the morning of the 17th of June, 1775, when the stillness of the 
early hour was broken by heavy cannonading in the distance, at Boston. The 
roar of heavy guns continued all the forenoon. In the afternoon the contest 
seemed to have redoubled its fury. What were the thoughts of these women 
as the horrors of war and bloody strife entered their minds? What if their 
husbands or sons should be slain in battle and a revengeful, conquering enemy 
should put into execution their threats to come with fire and sword, burn the 
houses and kill the defenseless women and children? 

"In their agony of spirit and despair they turned their steps to Sharon Hill, 
the high ground near the school house, where they might possibly behold the 
fearful contest. They sank down in despair as they beheld before them on the 
horizon, twenty miles away, in a fearful mass of smoke and flames, Charles- 
town, with its six hundred dwellings. 

"Night coming on, the tumult and voice of war was hushed. Anxiously 
awaiting some tidings from the terrible strife before them, they went into the 
school house, where they could sympathize with and console each other. Others 
came in and a goodly number were gathered. Rev. Philip Curtis, who had 
faithfully watched over them these many years, was with them with his prayers, 
exhortations and watching. Here on this eventful night was held the first 
watch-meeting ever held in Sharon. Here these women, with aching hearts and 
tearful eyes, beheld in the light of burning Charlestown the beacon of freedom, 
the dawn of a nation's birthday."' 

THE TOWN OF SHARON 

On August 23, 1775, was passed the general law providing that all districts 
in the Province of Massachusetts Bay should become towns, and on that day, 
or under that act, Stoughtonham became a full-fledged town. Its boundaries 
then included the present Town of Foxboro, which was set off on June 10, 
1778. In some of the records there is a mention of a meeting at which the citizens 
voted to ask the General Court to change the name to Washington, but no fur- 
ther information on the subject is available. On February 25, 1783, the follow- 
ing act was approved by Gov. John Hancock: 

"An act for discontinuing the name of a town in the County of Suffolk 
incorporated under the name of Stoughtonham, and calling the same Sharon. 

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the said Town of 
Stoughtonham shall no longer bear that name, but henceforth shall be called and 
known by the name of Sharon, the aforesaid incorporating act notwithstanding. 
And all officers in said town shall hold and exercise their respective offices in 
the same manner as they would have done had not the name of said town been 
altered." 

POSTOFFICES 

The first postornce in the town was established on July 1, 1819, and was 
located at Cobb's Tavern, on the Bay road. In 1828 the postoffice at Sharon 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 263 

Centre was established. On June 3, 1841, the name of the office at Cobb's 
Tavern was changed to East Sharon, and that at Sharon Centre to Sharon. The 
former has been discontinued, so that the only postoffice in the town is the one 
at Sharon. 

TOWN 'HALL 

For many years the town meetings of Sharon were held in the meeting 
house or in hired halls. In 1883 J. M. Weston, C. C. Barney and A. B. Lovejoy 
were appointed a building committee to superintend the erection of a town hall, 
45 by 70 feet and two stories in height. Plans were prepared by Arthur H. 
Dodd, an architect of Boston, and the contract was awarded to L. E. & T. L. 
Barlow, except the granite foundation which was built by John Moyle. The 
superstructure is a frame, the first story of which is covered with clapboards 
and the second story with shingles. At the right hand of the front entrance is 
a circular tower and the building is surmounted by a cupola, the top of which 
is seventy-six feet above the sidewalk. The first floor is occupied by the town 
offices, the clerk's office being provided with a fireproof vault for the preservation 
of the records. On the second floor is a large hall, 44 by 45 feet, with the cus- 
tomary anterooms, etc. The public library was formerly kept in the building, 
the cost of which was about eight thousand dollars. The hall was dedicated on 
February 21, 1884, with appropriate ceremonies. 

WATERWORKS 

The Sharon Waterworks were built by a company and were acquired by 
the town in 1895. Since that time, to January 1, 191 7, the town has appropri- 
ated $31,414 for water for public use, and the sum of $89,544.51 has been 
realized by the sale of bonds. Of these bonds the amount outstanding at the 
beginning of the year 1917 was $49,000. The system includes two pumping 
stations, nearly twenty miles of mains and 107 public hydrants. During the 
year 1916 Pumping Station No. 1 pumped 26,121,500 gallons, and No. 2, 20,371,- 
952 gallons, making a total consumption of 46,493,452 gallons, for which the 
town received $10,325 and the cost of maintenance was only $3,403. 

On November 20, 1916, Daniel W. Pettee, who had served on the board of 
water commissioners for more than twenty-one years, passed away by death and 
Alfred C. Sampson was appointed to the vacancy. The board at the beginning 
of the year 1917 was composed of Ralph O. Brown, Alfred C. Sampson and 
Timothy F. Quinn. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

The Sharon fire department, like those of most of the towns, has been de- 
veloped from the old hand engine and volunteer company into a thoroughly modern 
fire-fighting organization. The cost of maintenance for the year 1916 was 
$4,541.77, of which $2,552.51 was used to pay the salaries of the members of the 
department, and $698.27 represents the cost of installing a new storage battery 
for the fire alarm system. Concerning this battery, the board of fire engineers 



264 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

say in their report : "On June 3d the new storage battery for the fire alarm 
system was put in commission, replacing the old gravity battery which had been 
in use since the first installation of the alarm system. The cost of operating the 
old battery from January 1, 1916, to June 3, 1916, was $146.88, while the cost of 
operating the new battery from June 3d to the end of the year was $18.79. At 
this rate the new battery will soon pay for itself, as well as being more reliable 
and up to date." 

The board of fire engineers at the beginning of 1917, was composed of Edgar 
H. Andrews, chief ; C. P. Curtis, assistant chief and clerk ; A. D. Packard, 
superintendent of fire alarm. 

MODERN SHARON 

The Sharon of 191 7 is quite a different affair from the old Second Precinct of 
Stoughton in 1740. In 1910 the population of the town, according to the United 
States census, was 2,310. In 19 15 the state census reported the number of in- 
habitants as being 2,468, a gain of 158 in five years. The assessed valuation of 
property in 1916 was $3,900,627, an increase of $488,038 over that of the 
preceding year. 

Sharon has two weekly newspapers (the Advocate and the News), four public 
schools, three of which are conducted in buildings erected for the purpose and 
one in the town hall, electric light, steam and electric railway transportation 
facilities, a fine public library for a town of its class, churches of different faiths 
are represented by comfortable houses of worship, several mercantile establish- 
ments and some manufacturing concerns. The good roads movement has not 
been neglected, as in 191 6 the town meeting appropriated over one thousand 
dollars for the purchase of a steam roller and about ten thousand dollars for the 
construction and repair of highways and sidewalks. 

TOWN OFFICERS 

Following is a list of the leading officials at the beginning of the year 1917: 
Charles E. Whitcomb, Robert G. Morse and Herbert F. Nelson, selectmen and 
overseers of the poor; Charles A. Hixon, Henry A. Boyden and Edgar M. 
Hixon, assessors ; George H. Whittemore, clerk ; George A. Dennett, treasurer 
and tax collector; William D. Wheeler, moderator; Ralph S. Earle, John J. Rafter 
and Sidney A. Weston, school committee; Ambrose B. Peach, highway surveyor; 
Hervey T. B. Derry, Joseph B. Legge and Milton O. Parker, constables; Edmund 
H. Talbot, town counsel. 



CHAPTER XXXI 
THE TOWN OF STOUGHTON 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION THE NEW GRANT EVOLUTION OF STOUGHTON WILLIAM 

STOUGHTON — THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD — A STATE GOVERNMENT — STOUGH- 
TON'S RESOLUTIONS ON THE SUBJECT — SALTPETRE — WATERWORKS — FIRE DEPART- 
MENT — TOWN OFFICERS — THE PRESENT STOUGHTON. 

Lying on the southern border of Norfolk County, about midway between 
the Atlantic coast and the State of Rhode Island, is the Town of Stoughton. 
It is bounded on the north by Canton ; on the east by Randolph and Avon ; on 
the south by Avon and Plymouth and Bristol counties ; and on the west by the 
Town of Sharon. The central portion is the most elevated, the streams rising 
in this section flowing in different directions, some northward into Canton and 
others southward into Plymouth County. Ames Pond, in the southern part, is 
the largest body of water. York Pond, which receives the waters of Beaver 
Brook, is on the boundary line between Stoughton and Canton, and in the 
northwestern portion there is a chain of smaller ponds drained by Mill Brook, 
which flows in a northerly direction and finally reaches the Neponset River. 
Being less hilly than some of the other towns, the soil is better adapted to culti- 
vation, and some of the finest farms in Norfolk County are located in Stoughton. 

THE NEW GRANT 

The territory now comprising the Town of Stoughton is a part of the exten- 
sive tract known as the "New Grant" to Dorchester, which was made in 1637. 
That tract extended from "ye Town House to ye Plymouth Line." Its north 
end was near the present village of Readville and its south end was on what is 
now the southern boundary line of Norfolk County. The average width was 
about ten miles. 

EVOLUTION OF STOUGHTON 

On December 15, 171 5, the region embracing the present Town of Stoughton, 
and some of the adjacent towns, was organized as the "Dorchester South 
Precinct." Part of this precinct was set off to Wrentham in 1724, and on 
December 22, 1726, the territory now embraced in the towns of Canton, Sharon, 
Stoughton and the greater part of Foxboro was incorporated as a town by the 
name of Stoughton, taking its name from Gov. William Stoughton. On July 2, 
1740, by an act of the General Court, that part now included in Foxboro and 
Sharon was established as the Second Precinct. This precinct was made a dis- 

265 



266 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

trict called Stoughtonham on June 21, 1765. Foxboro was incorporated as a 
town on Tune 10, 1778, Sharon followed on February 25, 1783, and the Town 
of Canton (originally the First Precinct of Stoughton) was incorporated on 
February 23, 1797. These changes reduced Stoughton to its present dimensions 
and boundaries. The first town meeting in Stoughton was held on January 2, 
1727. The records of that meeting are not available, but it is known that George 
Talbot was chosen as one of the selectmen. Joseph Tucker was the first town 
clerk. 

WILLIAM STOUGHTON 

The man for whom the town was named was born in Dorchester in 163 1, and 
was a son of Israel Stoughton, one of the Dorchester proprietors. He graduated 
at Harvard College at the head of the class of 1650, and soon afterward went to 
England, where he enjoyed a fellowship at Oxford and completed his studies 
for the ministry. In 1662 he returned to Massachusetts and followed the pro- 
fession of a clergyman until 1671, though he never was pastor of a regularly 
organized society. In 1686 he became the head of the colonial courts, which 
position he held until the arrival of Governor Andros. Judge Stoughton was 
named as a member of the council under Andros and by his acceptance he lost 
much of his popularity. He regained the confidence of the people to some extent 
in 1689, when he was the first to sign the petition to the king demanding that 
Andros surrender the reins of government. 

Under the new charter he was made lieutenant-governor under Sir William 
Phipps, and when Governor Phipps instituted a special court of Oyer and 
Terminer for the trial of the witchcraft cases, Judge Stoughton was appointed 
chief justice. Barry describes him as "a Puritan of the commonwealth mould; 
of phlegmatic temperament; rigidly attached to the Puritan creed; thoroughly 
versed in the knowledge of men; knowing how to accommodate himself to a 
variety of circumstances, yet superior to all ; he was one who, in any situation, 
was calculated to succeed." 

In the witchcraft trials by the special court of which Mr. Stoughton was 
chief justice, nineteen persons were convicted and sentenced to death. Con- 
cerning these trials and convictions, Barry says : "As the excitement subsided 
the prominent actors in the terrible tragedy began to reflect, and a few made 
public acknowledgment of their error. . . . Stoughton alone refused to 
retract, and to the day of his death never regretted the part he had taken." 

When the Superior Court was organized he was made chief justice, his com- 
mission being dated December 22, 1692. His commission was renewed in 1695 
and he continued as chief justice until only a short time before his death, also 
holding the office of lieutenant-governor at the same time. Upon the removal 
of Governor Phipps in 1694, Stoughton became Governor and served until the 
arrival of Lord Bellamont in June, 1697. Lord Bellamont died in March, 1701, 
and Stoughton again became governor, somewhat reluctantly on account of his 
age and the state of his health, and served until his own death on July 7, 1701. 
Governor Stoughton was a benefactor of Harvard College. Before his death he 
erected at his own expense the building known as "Stoughton Hall," and in his 
will be left a legacy of a thousand pounds to his Alma Mater. 




NEW HOME OF THE STOUGHTON TRUST COMPANY 




HIGH SCHOOL. STOUGHTON 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 267 

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 

During the first half century of Stoughton's corporate existence little out of 
the ordinary took place. The people were busily engaged in building better 
houses, developing their farms, establishing schools for their children, opening 
highways, etc. With the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765, the dawning of the 
spirit of independence began to be felt. Early in 1773 a letter from the Boston 
Committee of Correspondence was sent to all the towns of Suffolk County. At 
a town meeting in Stoughton on March 1, 1773, this letter was read and it was 
voted to send a reply, setting forth the opinion that the rights of the colonists 
had been seriously infringed upon, violated by arbitrary will and power, and 
that the people of Stoughton were apprehensive that in the future this might 
prove fatal to them and their posterity by reducing them to a state of slavery. 

On September 26, 1774, Thomas Crane, who lived in the First Parish, after- 
ward set off as the Town of Canton, was elected representative to the Great and 
General Court to be held at Salem, and was given the following instructions : 

"Sir — As we have now chosen you to Represent us in the Great and General 
Court to be holden at Salem on Wednesday ye 5th day of October next ensuing 
We do hereby Instruct you that in all your Doings as a member of the House of 
Representatives you adhere firmly to the Charter of this Province granted by 
their Majesties King William and Queen Mary & that you do no act that can 
possibly be construed into an acknowledgement of ye validity of ye Act of the ye 
British Parliament for altering ye Government of Massachusetts Bay. More 
Especially that you acknowledge ye Honourable Board of Counsellors elected by 
ye General Court at their Session in May last as ye only rightfull & Constitu- 
tional Counsel of this Province : And as we have reason to believe that a Con- 
scientious Discharge of your Duty will Produce your Disolution as an House of 
Representatives We do hereby Impower and Instruct you to join with ye mem- 
bers who may be sent from this and ye Other Towns in ye Province & to meet 
with them at a time to be agreed upon in a General Provincial Congress to act 
upon such Matters as may come before you in such manner as may appear to 
you most Conducive to ye true Interest of this Town & Province as most Likely 
to Preserve the Liberties of all North America." 

When the Suffolk Congress met on August 16, 1774, at Doty's Tavern (then 
in the Town of Stoughton) several citizens of the town were in attendance, but 
it does not appear that they were chosen by any action of the voters of the town. 
That meeting was opened with a prayer by Rev. Samuel Dunbar, pastor of the 
First Parish Church — a prayer which Bancroft says "breathed forth among 
them the spirit of liberty, and the venerable man seemed inspired with the most 
divine and prophetical enthusiasm." The action of that meeting acted as a spur 
to the people of Stoughton, for on August 29th, at a town meeting called for 
the purpose, it was — 

"Voted, That a Committee be chosen to Represent ye Town in a County 
Convention of ye Towns and Districts of this County to be holden at ye house 
of Richard Woodward at Dedham on Tuesday ye 6th day of September next 
with full power of adjourning acting & Doing all such Matters & things in said 
Convention or in a general Convention of ye Countys of this Province as to them 
may appear of Publick Utility in this day of Publick and General Distress. 



268 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

"Voted, That five persons be chosen for this Purpose & also that John 
Withington, Theophilus Curtis, John Kenney, Jedediah Southworth and Josiah 
Pratt be this Committee ; That this Committee be directed to Endeavor to obtain 
a County Indemnification for all such Persons as may be fined or otherwise have 
suffered by a non-compliance witn a Late Act of ye British Parliament intitled 
'An Act for the Better Regulation of the Government of the Massachusetts Bay 
in North America.' That this Committee be also a Committee of Correspondence 
to advise and Correspond with ye other Towns in this Province about all such 
Matters & Things as may appear to them likely in any way to affect the Publick." 

On May 22, 1776, six weeks before the Declaration of Independence was 
adopted by the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, that event was foreshadowed 
by a town meeting in Stoughton, which declared by an almost unanimous vote, 
"That if the Honourable Continental Congress should for the safety of the 
Colonies declare us independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, we the In- 
habitants of Stoughton will solemnly engage with our lives and fortunes to 
support them in the measure." 

A STATE GOVERNMENT 

In September, 1776, the General Court sent out to the various towns of the 
state a communication relative to the formation of a state constitution and the 
inauguration of a new form of government. On the last day of the month a 
town meeting was held in Stoughton to take action on the communication. John 
Kenney, Christopher Wadsworth, Jonathan Capen, Abner Crane and Elijah 
Dunbar were appointed a committee to draft the town's reply. Following is the 
report of the committee : 

"We the subscribers, being chosen a committee by this town at a town meet- 
ing legally assembled at Stoughton on the 30th of September last, to draft a vote 
upon and article in ye town warrant respecting chosing ye present Gen'l Court to 
form a plan of Government for ye State have attended to that Service & Beg leave 
to report the following resolutions viz 

"1 — Resolved That good Government is the basis of liberty & absolutely 
necessary to the safety & Wellfare of a People. 

"2 — Resolved That as the end of Government is the Happiness of ye people 
so ye sole Power & Right of forming and establishing a plan thereof is essen- 
tially in ye People. 

"3 — Resolved That as this State is at Present destitute of a fixed & Estab- 
lished form of Government it is Absolutely necessary that one Immediately be 
formed Agreeable to the recommendation of ye Grand Congress. 

"4 — Resolved "That as the present House of Representatives have passed a 
resolve to see if ye Severall Toens in this State would empower them, the said 
House of Representatives together with the Council, to enact a plan of Govern- 
ment for this State it appears to us unadvisable & Irrational & a measure that 
ought not by any means to be Complied with for these reasons viz — That we are 
totally unacquainted with the Capacities & Patriotism & Character of ye mem- 
bers that compose ye said House & Council excepting our own member Also 
because they were Never elected by ye people for that purpose & also because 
the present Embarrassed State of our Publick Affairs calls for the steady atten- 
tion of every member of ye said House and Council. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 269 

"5 — Resolved That it is the Duty & Interest of this Town immediately to 
choose one or more members to join with the members of the Other Towns in 
this State to form & Publish a plan of Government for said State. 

"6 — Resolved That in order to Carry ye foregoing Resolutions into Execu- 
tion as soon as ye Importance of the matter may admit it appears to us best that 
the members of ye Severall Towns in this State Chosen for ye express purpose 
afore said should meet together by Them selves or by their Committee in a State 
Convention or Congress & compare the severall forms of Government together 
whereby the Wisdom of the whole State may be collected & a form of Govern- 
ment be Extracted. 

"7 — Resolved That it appears to us Absolutely necessary for the Liberty & 
safety of this State that the plan of Government when formed and Published 
should not be Established till ye People of this State have had time & Oppor- 
tunity of thoroughly examining the same & shall consent that it be established by 
the said State Convention or Congress. 

"All of which is humbly submitted by us. 

"John Kenney 
"Christopher Wadsworth 
"Jonathan Capen 
"Abner Crane 
"Elijah Dunbar 
"Stoughton, October 2d, i//6." 

Such was the idea of the people of Stoughton regarding a state constitution 
and the manner of its formation and adoption. If the reader will now turn to 
the chapter on Bellingham and note the action of that town on the same subject, 
he will be impressed with the similarity of the theories advanced by those two 
towns, and that without any collusion between them. For years the town meet- 
ing had been educating the people to the notion that government in any form 
should derive its just powers from the consent of the governed — a sentiment 
which found expression in the Declaration of Independence and has been the 
dominating idea in the formation of all our state constitutions. 

saltpetre 

Gunpowder was quite an item in 1776, and at a town meeting in Stoughton 
on March 4, 1776, an article in the warrant was "To see if the town will take 
any method to encourage the manufacture of saltpetre." At the meeting it was 
voted that a committee be appointed to begin the manufacture of that article. 
Adam Blackman, Jonathan Capen, Esquire Dunbar, Samuel Osgood and George 
Crossman were appointed as the committee. These men set to work upon the 
project and in June their factory was ready to begin operations. The first salt- 
petre from this committee was sent to the powder-mill in Milton about the time 
of the adoption of the above resolutions, or perhaps a little earlier. (See also 
the chapter on the Revolution.) 

WATERWORKS 

The first move toward providing a water supply for the inhabitants of 
Stoughton was made on May 28, 1886, when the governor approved an act of 



270 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the Legislature incorporating "John G. Phinney, Charles W. Lunn, E. Morton 
Elmes, Charles W. Welch, Charles E. Parker, their associates and successors, as 
the Stoughton Water Company." 

By the provisions of the act the company's authorized capital stock was not 
to exceed $50,000, and it was given power to take water from Knowles' Brook, 
Muddy Pond Brook, Porter's Brook and the Drake School House well, "and 
take by purchase and hold the Hill and Drake well, so called, situated on land 
of the heirs of Henry Drake," etc. 

Section 10 of the act provided that the Town of Stoughton might "at any 
time purchase of said corporation its franchise, corporate property and all its 
rights and privileges, at a price which may be mutually agreed upon," etc., when- 
ever two-thirds of the voters give their assent thereto, and in the event of such 
purchase the town was authorized to issue bonds in any sum not to exceed 
$100,000, to pay for the same. 

In 1887 the Stoughton Fire District was organized. It was incorporated by 
the act of April 30, 1888, with power to purchase the rights and privileges of the 
Stoughton Water Company, provided that the Town of Stoughton did not within 
one year exercise its right of purchase under the act of May 28, 1886. This 
stimulated the town to action and before the expiration of the twelve months it 
was voted to issue the necessary bonds and acquire the franchise of the Stough- 
ton Water Company. The town was also given the right to acquire the franchise 
and property of the Stoughton Fire District, in the act incorporating said district. 

By the act of June 3, 1892, the town was authorized to issue bonds to the 
amount of $150,000 for the completion of the waterworks and the extension of 
the mains to all parts of the town, with the provision that a sinking fund should 
be established to guarantee the payment of the bonds when they became due. 
The sinking fund provision was changed by the act of March 17, 1893, which 
gave to the town the privilege of making annual payments on the water loan 
instead of establishing a sinking fund. Under the liberal legislation of the above 
mentioned acts, Stoughton has a system of waterworks second to none in 
Norfolk County. 

According to the report of the water commissioners for the year ending on 
December 31, 1916, the total cost of the works up to that time had been $352,193.73, 
and the net expense for maintenance, $184,675.35. The total income from bonds 
was $303,407.28, and from water rates $222,506.23. During the year 126,564,000 
gallons of water were pumped and distributed through nearly thirty-one miles of 
mains to 1,528 families, 3 hotels, 18 factories, 19 business bulidings and 330 street 
hydrants. The amount received for water rates was $14,688, exclusive of meter 
rentals and the $6,600 paid by the town for the use of hydrants in case of fire. 
During the year the bonded debt was reduced $17,000, leaving the amount of 
bonds outstanding at the close of the year $134,000. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

Stoughton's fire department is in keeping with the town's general progress. 
The board of fire engineers for 1916 was made up of James J. Pye, chief; Henry 
M. Bird, first assistant and clerk; James E. Reilly, second assistant; Cornelius 
Healy, Jr., George W. Pratt and George E. Malcolm. From their annual report 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 271 

it is learned that the department consists of four companies, to wit : Stoughton 
Steamer Company, in connection with which is kept the auto combination truck, 
numbers sixteen men ; Washington Hook and Ladder Company, ten men ; North 
Stoughton Hose Company, six men ; West Stoughton Hose Company, eight men, 
a total (including the six members of the board of engineers) of forty-six men. 
The cost of maintenance for the year 1916 was $6,150.51, considerably more 
than half of which was used in paying the salaries of the members of the depart- 
ment. During the year fifty-six alarms were answered, sixteen of which were 
forest fires. The fire alarm system consists of twenty-two boxes, stationed at 
convenient places in all parts of the town, so that no time need be lost in calling 
the department. 

TOWN OFFICERS 

Following is a list of the principal town officials at the beginning of the year 
1917: George W. Pratt, Cornelius Healy, Jr., and George E. Malcolm, select- 
men and overseers of the poor; Cornelius Healy, Jr., George W. Pratt and James 
E. Reilly, assessors ; George O. Wentworth, clerk and treasurer ; Henry Fitzpat- 
rick, tax collector ; George P. Curtis, G. A. Sprague, Jr., Ernest E. Randall, water 
commissioners ; John W. Wood, Edgar F. Leonard and Dennis W. Toomey, 
school committee ; Jerome F. Murphy, Ralph S. Blake and Arthur R. Jenkins, 
auditors; Daniel F. Vaughn, highway surveyor; George H. Coward, Michael F. 
Powers and Arthur L. Holmes, park commissioners ; Richard Vanston, Anson L. 
Favor, James J. Pye and Daniel F. O'Connor, constables. 

THE PRESENT STOUGHTON 

Between the years 1910 and 191 5 the increase in population in Stoughton was 
666, the United States census of the former year giving the town a population 
of 6,316 and the state census of the latter year reporting 6,982. The assessed 
valuation of property on April 1, 1916, according to the report of the assessors, 
was $4,747,017, an increase over the assessment of the preceding year of $525,585. 
Stoughton has a bank (the Stoughton Trust Company), two weekly newspapers 
(the News and Sentinel), eleven public school buildings and employs thirty- 
three teachers, Baptist, Catholic, Congregational, Methodist Episcopal and Uni- 
versalist churches, a number of thriving manufacturing establishments, well- 
stocked stores that handle practically all lines of merchandise, good roads and side- 
walks, and many handsome residences. The town is lighted with electricity by 
contract with the Edison Company and recently an effort has been made to have 
the Brockton Gas and Illuminating Company extend its lines into the town. Two 
divisions of the New York, New Haven & Hartford unite at Stoughton Junction. 
The railroad stations in the town are North Stoughton, West Stoughton, South 
Stoughton and Stoughton. Electric railway lines connect the town with Brockton, 
Randolph, and East Sharon, where other lines are connected, so that the trans- 
portation facilities are unsurpassed. 



CHAPTER XXXII 
THE TOWN OF WALPOLE 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES — EARLY HISTORY — INCORPORATION OF WALPOLE — OR- 
GANIC ACT — THE TOWN NAME — THE MEETING HOUSE FRENCH AND INDIAN 

WAR — TOWN HALL — THE FOUNTAIN — WATERWORKS — FIRE DEPARTMENT — WAL- 
POLE OF THE PRESENT TOWN OFFICERS. 

Situated in the central portion of Norfolk County is the Town of Walpole. It 
is an irregularly shaped tract of land, bounded, beginning on the north and pro- 
ceeding eastward, by the towns of Dover, Westwood, Norwood, Sharon, Foxboro, 
Norfolk and Medfield. The Neponset River flows in a northerly direction from 
the southern boundary to a point near the center, where it turns more to the north- 
east, and after passing through a long, narrow pond enters the Town of Norwood. 
There are several ponds in Walpole, the best known of which is probably Morey's 
Pond, lying a little west of the center of the town. The surface is generally rolling 
and in some places so rough and hilly as to be poorly adapted to cultivation. 

EARLY HISTORY 

When the Town of Dedham was incorporated in 1636 it included the territory 
now comprising the Town of Walpole, and for nearly a century the history of 
Walpole is part of the history of Dedham. There is abundant evidence that set- 
tlements were made within the limits of Walpole at an early date. The cedar 
swamp frequently mentioned in the early Dedham records is generally conceded 
to be the cedar swamp "lying between the plain and South Walpole." In May, 
1658, Eleazer Lusher and Joshua Fisher were granted a privilege to erect a saw 
mill on the Neponset River. It has been stated by several writers on Norfolk 
County history that this mill was situated in what is now the Town of Norwood, 
but Henry E. Fales, in an address delivered at Walpole on September 28, 188 1, on 
the occasion of the dedication of the town hall, set up the claim that it was within 
the limits of Walpole. 

When the first settlers came to this part of Dedham they found the uplands 
covered with timber. The meadows along the Neponset and in the vicinity of the 
larger ponds were open and afforded an abundant supply of hay for the live stock. 
These meadows formed the principal inducement to settle in the locality. Game 
was abundant in the woods and gave the settler an opportunity to provide his 
family with a large part of the meat consumed. Wild beasts of prey were likewise 
numerous, and after the Town of Walpole was incorporated bounties were paid 
for the destruction of wolves, wildcats and rattlesnakes. 

272 





m n :' .SB* -a 



MAIN STREET, WAU'OLK 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 273 

INCORPORATION OF WALPOLE 

As in the case of several of the Norfolk County towns, the moving cause of 
separation from the mother town was the inconvenience of attending church in 
Dedham. As early as 1721 a petition was presented to the General Court, asking 
that the south part of Dedham might be set off as a parish for the purpose of sup- 
porting religious worship, in accordance with the laws of the colony. There is no 
doubt but that petition was signed by some of the inhabitants living within the 
present limits of Walpole, but the petition itself has disappeared from the 
archives. Dedham opposed the movement and the General Court refused to 
grant the prayer of the petitioners. Three years later a more formidable petition 
was presented and a committee was appointed to urge that it be granted. This time 
the Town of Dedham gave consent and on December 10, 1724, the General Court 
passed the following 

ORGANIC ACT 

"Whereas, the South part of the Town of Dedham, within the County of Suf- 
folk, is completely filled with inhabitants, who labor under great difficulties by 
their Remoteness from the place of public worship, etc., and have thereupon made 
their application to the said Town of Dedham, and likewise addressed this Court, 
that they may be set off a distinct and separate town, and be vested with all the 
powers and privileges of a town, and the inhabitants of Dedham having consented 
to their being set off" accordingly, and a committee of this Court having viewed the 
said Town of Dedham and reported a proper divisional line between the two parts 
thereof — 

"Be it therefore enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Representa- 
tives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same. That the 
southerly part of the said Town of Dedham be and hereby is set off and constituted 
a seperate township by the name of Walpole. 

"Provided that the inhabitants of the said Town of Walpole do, within the 
space of eighteen months from the publication of this act, erect and finish a suit- 
able house for publick worship of God, and as soon as may be procure and settle a 
learned, Orthodox minister of good conversation, and make provision for his com- 
fortable and honourable support ; and likewise provide a schoolmaster to instruct 
their youth in writing and reading; and that thereupon they be discharged from 
any further payments for the maintenance of the Ministry and school in the Town 
of Dedham." 

THE TOWN NAME 

The town was named for Sir Robert Walpole, the eminent English statesman, 
who was one of the leaders of the whig party and prime minister in the reigns of 
George I and George II. He was accused of corrupt practices and not without 
some grounds, as it was his custom to win public men to his side by giving bribes, 
either in money or public office. He is said to have been the author of the memo- 
rable saying, "Every man has his price." Notwithstanding this trait of character, 
he was recognized as one of the foremost statesmen of his day and his own acts 



274 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

in public life stand above reproach. He died in 1745, before the commencement 
of the troubles between the American colonies and the mother country that cul- 
minated in the Revolution. 

THE MEETING HOUSE 

The oldest town record bears date of March 30, 1725. That a meeting had 
been held before that time is evident, and the records of that meeting no doubt 
contained the names of the first town officers. It is known that Samuel Kingsbury 
was the first town clerk — elected at the first town meeting and served until 1729. 

At the meeting of March 30, 1725, it was voted to build a meeting house, in 
accordance with the provisions of the act of incorporation. Pending the comple- 
tion of the meeting house, religious services were conducted by different ministers 
in the homes of the citizens. After several meetings, it was decided to build the 
meeting house near the center of the town, and that it was to be 32 by 38 feet in 
dimensions. It was commenced in 1726, but was not fully completed until several 
years later. Rev. Joseph Belcher was the first minister called by the town. (See 
chapters on Church History.) 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 

In the expedition organized for the invasion of Canada in 1759, a large part of 
the company commanded by Capt. William Bacon came from Walpole. There 
were also several men from Walpole in Capt. Eliphalet Fales' company from 
Dedham. Josiah Lyon and Ebenezer Pratt, of Captain Bacon's company, were 
either killed or captured ; thirteen died of disease during the campaign ; and two 
others — James Weatherbee and Simon Pittee — died soon after they returned to 
their homes. 

The French and Indian war wielded an important influence upon the subse- 
quent history of Massachusetts. It was closed by the treaty of Paris in 1763, and 
on March 10, 1764, Lord Grenville, then secretary of state for Great Britain, pro- 
posed to Parliament to provide for part of the expenses of the war by taxing the 
American colonies. Then followed the Stamp Act in March, 1765, the first of 
the acts levying taxes upon the colonists. The men of Walpole, who had fought 
under the British flag for the conquest of Canada, were now just as ready to 
resist what they regarded as unjust taxation. On September 26, 1774. they 
elected Nathaniel Guild as their representative to the Provincial Congress, and on 
the 19th of December following a town meeting adopted by a unanimous vote the 
fourteen articles of association submitted to the colonies by the Continental Con- 
gress that met at Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. The active part taken by 
Walpole in the Revolution is told in another chapter of this work. 

TOWN HALL 

When Walpole was incorporated there was neither meeting house nor school 
house in the town. The first town meetings were therefore held at the house of 
one of the residents. After the meeting house was sufficiently completed, the town 
meetings were held in that structure, and still later in the vestry of the First 




PUBLIC LIBRARY. WALPOLl 




ODD FELLOWS" BUILDING AND TOWN HALL. WALPOLE 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 275 

Church, where they met as late as 1881, or until the completion of the present 
town hall. At the annual meeting in 1880 it was voted to build a town house and 
a building committee, of which George E. Craig was chairman, was appointed to 
superintend the work. The building was completed the following year and was 
dedicated on September 28, 1881, Henry E. Fales delivering the historical address. 
The hall is a substantial brick structure, standing upon an eminence at the corner 
of Main and Stone streets. The lower floor is fitted up for the town offices and on 
the second floor is a large hall. In the tower is a clock. The cost of the building 
was about thirty thousand dollars. It was thoroughly remodeled in 1916. 

THE FOUNTAIN 

At one side of the square, almost in front of the town hall, stands a granite 
monument in the shape of a fountain, which was presented to the town by George 
A. Plimpton in 1907. On the front of the fountain is the inscription: "1755 — 
Erected in grateful recognition of the services of the men of Walpole and vicinity 
in the French and Indian war. They enlisted not for a livelihood, but with intent 
to return to their farms and trades, being chiefly influenced to take up arms by a 
regard for the honor of the King, the defense of their country and the preserva- 
tion of their religion and liberties." 

On the right of the reverse side are the names of Capt. Eliphalet Fales, Capt. 
Ephraim Wheelock, and thirty-four members of their companies, and on the left 
the names of Capt. William Bacon, John Clapp and thirty-four members of Cap- 
tain Bacon's company. 

WATERWORKS 

By an act of the Legislature, approved on May 2, 1893, the Town of Walpole 
was authorized to supply its inhabitants with water, using therefor the waters of 
Spring Brook, Mill Brook, Traphole Brook, artesian or driven wells, etc., and for 
the purpose of constructing a system of waterworks the town was given power to 
borrow not more than $125,000, whenever two-thirds of the legal voters gave their 
assent to such a proposition. At a town meeting called for the purpose, the neces- 
sary two-thirds vote was obtained and early in 1894 work was commenced. 

The source of supply consists of forty driven wells near Lower Brook, just off 
Washington Street. A pumping station, equipped with machinery installed by 
the George F. Blake Manufacturing Company, pumps the water from these wells 
into three standpipes having a combined capacity of 675,000 gallons. From these 
standpipes the water is distributed to about ninety per cent of the inhabitants 
through a little more than thirty-one miles of street mains. The water was first 
turned into the mains for the consumers in the early summer of 1895, in which 
year the board of water commissioners made their first annual report. 

In 1916 the board of water commissioners was composed of Henry B. Plimp- 
ton. Harry L. Howard and John C. Donnelly. In their annual report for that year 
they state the net cost of the plant to December 31, 1916, as $214,798.55 ; net debt 
on December 31, 1916, as $60,300, and the net cost to the town as $51,169.75. 
During the year 271,032,682 gallons of water were pumped and distributed to the 
5,200 consumers, for which the town received in water rates the sum of $22,965.92. 
There are 241 fire hydrants placed at convenient places throughout the town. 



276 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

The board of fire engineers at the close of the year 1916 was composed of 
James J. Hennessey, Thomas H. Smith, Frank A. Fisher and Guy A. Williams. 
The fifth member of the board, elected at the annual meeting in 1916, was 
James E. Mahar, who removed to Norwood before the expiration of his term 
and consequently resigned his place on the board. According to the annual report 
of this board, the department consists of five engineers and fifty men, assigned to 
the three companies as follows : Company No. 1 at Walpole Centre, twenty men ; 
Company No. 2 at East Walpole, twenty men ; Company No. 3 at South Walpole, 
ten men. At the Central Station the equipment consists of one hose truck, one 
ladder truck, and one forest fire wagon. The same equipment is provided for 
Station No. 2 at East Walpole, and at the engine house in South Walpole is kept 
a hose truck and forest fire wagon. During the year 1916 the department answered 
twenty-three calls, exclusive of forest fires. Several new alarm boxes were in- 
stalled during the year. The appropriations for the department at the last annual 
meeting were $3,200 for the department proper, and $1,250 for the maintenance 
of the fire alarm system. All in all Walpole has a fire department that compares 
favorably with those of other towns of its class. 

WALPOLE OF THE PRESENT 

Upon the town seal of Walpole is depicted an old water mill, presumably 
the old saw mill of Eleazer Lusher and Joshua Fisher on the Neponset River, 
with a forest of trees in the background, and in the margin are the words: 
"Walpole Massachusetts, Incorporated 1724." Quite a change has come to the 
town since the conditions represented by the corporate seal existed. The Walpole 
of the present day is one of the thriving towns of the Old Bay State, with a 
population of 5,490 in 1915, a gain of 598 during the preceding five years. The 
total valuation of property on April 1, 1916, according to the report of the 
assessors, was $7,636,198; an increase over the assessment of the preceding year 
of $757,i8i. 

Walpole has a bank, a weekly newspaper (the Enterprise), a fine public library, 
six public school buildings, parks and playgrounds, well kept streets, a number 
of manufacturing establishments with an invested capital of over five millions of 
dollars, electric light, telephone connections with the surrounding towns and the 
City of Boston, three postoffices — Walpole, East Walpole and South Walpole — 
and a number of well tilled farms. Two lines of the New York, New Haven & 
Hartford railway system pass through the town, crossing each other at Walpole 
Junction, and there are electric lines to the adjoining towns. Evidence of pros- 
perity is seen in the fact that the town carries insurance upon the municipal and 
public school buildings aggregating $273,663, while the net bonded debt at the 
close of the year 1916 was only $191,540. 

TOWN OFFICERS 

At the beginning of the year 1917 the principal officers of Walpole were as 
follows: Henry M. Stowell, Louis E. Vose and Timothy E. Delaney. selectmen 




WALPOLE RUBBEE COMPANY, WALPOLE 




LEWIS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, WALPOLE 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 277 

and overseers of the poor; Charles Brown, Melzar W. Allen and Nathan W. 
Fisher, assessors ; Harry L. Howard, clerk ; Harry A. Whiting, treasurer ; George 
H. Kingsbury, Michael F. McCarthy and Charles S. Bird, Jr., park commission- 
ers ; Thomas D. Plimpton, George Cobb and Frederick H. Fuller, board of health ; 
Otis J. Dionne, tax collector ; William Jarvis, highway surveyor ; J. E. Plimpton, 
George M. Graves, P. H. Mahoney, Philip R. Allen, Ida N. Caldwell and Eliza- 
beth H. Vose, school committee ; William F. Riordan, N. E. Winslow and 
William P. Crowley, constables. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 
THE TOWN OF WELLESLEY 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION — HISTORICAL — INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN — NAMING THE 
TOWN — FIRST OFFICERS — TOWN HALL — POSTOFFICES TOWN SEAL — WATER- 
WORKS — ELECTRIC LIGHT — FIRE DEPARTMENT — SEWER SYSTEM — PUBLIC BATH 
HOUSE — MODERN WELLESLEY — TOWN OFFICERS. 

Wellesley is the most northern town in Norfolk County. On the north it is 
bounded by Middlesex County; on the east by Needham; on the south by Dover 
and the County of Middlesex ; and on the west by the County of Middlesex. 
Lake Wa'ban and Morse Pond are located in the western part, and there are a 
few small streams, tributaries of the Charles River. The shape of the town is 
that of an irregular rectangle, about four and a half miles from northeast to 
southwest, with an average width of a little more than two miles. Magus ( or 
Maugus) Hill takes its name from the Indian who deeded the land to the Dedham 
proprietors in April, 1681. Wellesley Hills, also called "Wellesley Hundreds" 
(because the land was allotted to the early settlers in tracts of 100 acres each), 
has long been a favorite residential district on account of its healthfulness and 
picturesque scenery. 

HISTORICAL 

Wellesley is a comparatively new town and its early history is included in 
that of Dedham until 171 1, and from 171 1 to 1881 in that of the Town of Need- 
ham, of which it was a part during that period. For more than sixty years after 
the incorporation of Needham in 1711, there was but one meeting house in the 
town. In 1773 the old meeting house was destroyed by fire and immediately a 
contest arose regarding the location of the new one. Those living in what is 
now the Town of Needham were in favor of rebuilding upon the old site, while 
those living in the westerly part of the town (now Wellesley) wanted the meet- 
ing house placed in a more convenient location for their accommodation. By 
this time a considerable number of people had settled in the westerly portion 
and to settle the dispute they were given the privilege of building a meeting house 
and employing a minister of their own. Two hundred pounds were raised in a 
short time by subscription, a meeting house was built, and in 1778 the parish 
was incorporated as the "West Precinct of Needham" by an act of the General 
Court. 

INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN 

Although the inhabitants of the West Precinct enjoyed all the freedom in 
religious matters that they would have enjoyed as a town, they soon came to desire 

278 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 279 

political rights and privileges, whereby they could develop their local institu- 
tions. Consequently an effort was made in 1801 to have the precinct set off as 
a town, but the opposition of Needham was too strong to be overcome at that 
time and the General Court denied the petition. Another well organized move- 
ment for separation was started in 1820, but again the petition was defeated 
through the opposition of the mother town. During the next fifty years several 
attempts were made, all of which end£d in failure. Then came a period of about 
ten years in which the subject was allowed to lie dormant, in the hope that the 
people of Needham would lose interest in the question of separation. In 1880 
a petition went up to the General Court, bearing the names of nearly all the legal 
voters in the West Precinct, which had by this time grown into a populous and 
wealthy community, and a committee was appointed to see that it was given the 
proper consideration. This time Needham's opposition was merely nominal, 
and on April 6, 1881, the governor approved an act incorporating the new town. 
Section 1 of that act is as follows : 

"All that territory lying within the Town of Needham northerly and westerly 
of a line beginning at a point in the boundary line between the towns of Need- 
ham and Dover seventy-five feet northerly from the central line of Charles 
River Street where it crosses Charles River; thence running northeasterly about 
four miles and seventy-six hundredths of a mile to a point in the centre of the 
reservoir, so called, near the village of Newton Upper Falls, two hundred feet 
easterly from a point in the centre line of Reservoir Street midway between the 
abutments of the bridge by which said Reservoir Street crosses said reservoir; 
thence running easterly by the centre line of said reservoir about fourteen hun- 
dred feet to a point in the boundary line between the Town of Needham and the 
City of Newton near the centre of the Charles River, is hereby incorporated 
into a town by the name of Wellesley ; and the said town is hereby invested with 
all the powers, privileges, rights and immunities and is subject to all the duties 
and requisitions to which other towns are entitled or subjected by the constitu- 
tion and laws of this Commonwealth." 

Other sections of the act contain the usual provisions, in incorporating a new 
town, relative to arrears of taxes, support of paupers and the division of town 
property and debt. 

NAMING THE TOWN 

Wellesley derives its name from the Welles family, members of which were 
among the early settlers. Samuel Welles purchased a tract of land at the junc- 
tion of Washington Street and Pond Road (then within the limits of the Town 
of Natick) as early as 1750 and built thereon a dwelling which was occupied by 
him and his family for many years as a farm and summer home. He became a 
large landowner and at one time owned the Wellesley town farm. Samuel 
Welles graduated at Harvard with the class of 1707, married Hannah Arnold 
and removed to Boston, where his wife inherited large property. His two 
sons — Arnold and Samuel — both graduated at Harvard, and John W r elles, a son 
of Arnold, became a member of the banking house of J. & B. Welles, of Boston 
and Paris. John Welles was also a member of the House of Representatives and 
the Senate in the Massachusetts Legislature, and was one of the early presidents 
of the Boston City Council. 



280 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

In 1839 this same John Welles, after several years in Paris in connection with 
his banking business, purchased the residence known as the "Morrill House" in 
Wellesley, which he used as a summer home for some twelve or thirteen years. 
Later, upon a tract of about thirty acres about the "Mansion House," he laid 
out and developed one of the most beautiful gardens to be found in the United 
States. His daughter became the wife of H. H. Hunnewell and inherited the 
property, which has since become widely known as "Hunnewell Gardens." 

FIRST OFFICERS 

A few days after the passage of the act of incorporation, Solomon Flagg, 
who had been town clerk of Needham for some thirty years, but who lived in 
that part set off as Wellesley, issued his warrant for a town meeting to be held 
on Monday, April 18, 1881, for the purpose of choosing such officers as towns 
are authorized by law to elect. At that meeting George K. Daniell was chosen 
moderator ; Lyman K. Putney, Walter Hunnewell and John W. Shaw, selectmen 
and overseers of the poor; George K. Daniell, Joseph H. Dewing and Dexter 
Kingsbury, assessors ; Solomon Flagg, clerk ; Albert Jennings, treasurer ; Joseph 
E. Fiske, Benjamin H. Sanborn and Marshall L. Perrin, school committee. At 
an adjourned meeting on the last day of April, appropriations were made as 
follows: Schools, $8,000; highways and sidewalks, $3,500. Provision was also 
made for general expenses, and it was voted that no licenses to sell intoxicating 
liquors in the town should be granted. A committee was appointed at this 
meeting to effect a settlement with Needham, which was done to the satisfaction 
of both towns. 

TOWN HALL 

In the division of Needham and the erection of the Town of Wellesley, the 
town hall that had been used for many years by Needham fell within the limits 
of the new town. Its location was not convenient for the Town of Wellesley, 
and besides it was an old building that had "outlived its usefulness." Hollis H. 
Hunnewell gave to the town a new building, designed for a town hall and public 
library, surrounded by a park of about ten acres. The cost of the building, 
which is a handsome and substantial stone structure, was about sixty thousand 
dollars. In addition to this munificent gift, Mr. Hunnewell also provided a 
fund of twenty thousand dollars, the income from which is to be used in caring 
for the building and grounds. The edifice was completed and dedicated in 1883. 

POSTOFFICES 

The first postoffice within the limits of the present Town of Wellesley was 
established about 1830, with Charles Noyes as postmaster. It was known as 
West Needham. Mail was brought every other day by the stages running be- 
tween Boston and Natick. Charles Noyes was a son of Rev. Thomas Noyes and 
an optician. He kept the office in his "shop" where he conducted his business 
until succeeded by William Flagg, who held the position for about twenty-five 
years. The office has long since been discontinued. 




WELLESLEY NATIONAL BANK 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 281 

Grantville was made a postoffice in November, 185 1, with Rev. William H. 
Adams in charge as postmaster. A railroad station was established here in 
1884, but both the postoffice and station have disappeared from the map. 

Wellesley Farms postoffice was established sometime in the early '90s and 
was at first kept in the house of the postmaster, J. F. Wight. Later it was 
removed to a room near the railroad station. It is now a station of the Boston 
office, as is the office at Wellesley. 

TOWN SEAL 

The town seal was designed by the architect who planned the town hall and 
library building. In the center of a circular field is an escutcheon, upon which 
is an open book with a flower lying across the pages. Projecting above the 
escutcheon are two arrow heads and a tomahawk. In the margin are the words : 
"Wellesley, April 6, 1881." The open book represents Wellesley College; the 
flower across the pages, the Hunnewell gardens ; and the arrows and tomahawk, 
the early association with the Indians, all appropriate to some phase of Welles- 
ley's history. 

WATERWORKS 

In the fall of 1882, about eighteen months after the town was incorporated, 
it was voted at a town meeting to ask the Legislature for authority to establish 
a system of waterworks. At the same time a committee, of which Judge George 
White was chairman, was appointed to examine the various sources of supply 
and report a plan for furnishing water to the inhabitants. In response to the 
town's request, the Legislature passed an act, which was approved on May 5, 
1883, authorizing Wellesley to supply itself and its inhabitants with water for 
extinguishing fires, for domestic purposes, etc., and to take water from the 
Charles River and Longfellow's Pond, lay mains, locate hydrants and provide 
the necessary pumping facilities. In order to construct the works, the town was 
also authorized to borrow a sum of money not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, 
and to issue bonds, notes or scrip therefor. The act was to become effective 
when accepted by two-thirds of the legal voters. 

The committee on water supply reported that the most feasible plan was to 
erect a pumping station, take water from the Charles River and pump it to a 
reservoir on Maugus Hill, from which it could be distributed to practically the 
entire town. 

By an act of the Legislature, approved on June 28, 1883, the Town of Natick 
was authorized to make a contract with the selectmen of Wellesley to supply 
that town with water, and to extend its mains into Wellesley for that purpose, 
the act to take effect immediately upon its passage. The people of Wellesley, 
however, preferred to own a plant of their own. The provisions of the act of 
May 5, 1883, were accepted by more than two-thirds of the voters, and the report 
of the committee on water supply was adopted. Work was commenced, but it 
was soon discovered that the $50,000 loan was not sufficient, and on February 
12, 1884, the Legislature authorized the town to borrow $75,000 more. A third 
loan of $50,000 was authorized by the act of May 7, 1885. 



282 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

The machinery at the pumping station was installed by the Goulds Manu- 
facturing Company and the George F. Blake Manufacturing Company and has 
a daily capacity of 3,000,000 gallons. The first water was supplied to consumers 
in 1884, though extensions have been made every year since that time, until at 
the close of the year 1916 there were nearly forty-eight miles of mains and 370 
hydrants. The total cost of the works to January 1, 1917, was $481,155.80, and 
the amount of outstanding bonds was $119,915.56. During the year 1916 the 
system supplied to the town and its inhabitants 182,133,407 gallons of water, for 
which the town received in water rates $27,839.23. 

The first board of water commissioners, elected on December 22, 1883, was 
composed of Albion R. Clapp, William S. Ware and Walter Hunnewell. The 
board at the beginning of 1917 was composed of Frank L. Fuller, Charles E. 
Fuller and Francis C. Hersey. This board also has the management of the elec- 
tric light plant, which was established a few years ago. It consists of a sub- 
station 26 by 43 feet, built of brick, steel and concrete, one story and basement, 
and a frame shed 25 by 32 feet for storing wagons and material. In the sub- 
station is a switchboard connecting feeders from the Edison Company's trans- 
formers with the primary commercial circuits and the street light circuits. The 
total cost of this plant to January 1, 1917, was $113,363. During the year 1916 
the income from this plant was $40,272.22. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

The Wellesley Fire Department consists of four companies, to wit: Hose 
Company No. 1, composed of seven men; Hose Company No. 2, eight men; Hose 
Company No. 3, six men; Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, eight men, a total 
of twenty-nine men, exclusive of John P. Doyle, chief of the department, and 
John W. Fowle, superintendent of the fire alarm system. During the year 1916 
the Wellesley fire alarm system was connected with that of Newton, so that the 
department of that city may be called in case of a fire which the local depart- 
ment is unable to control. In their report for the year, the selectmen recommend 
that the entire department be motorized, and suggest that this be done by an 
issue of bonds for the purchase of the new apparatus. Chief Doyle, in his report 
for 1916 states that the department answered calls on forty-three occasions, the 
value of the buildings at risk being $284,480, value of contents, $62,710, and 
that the total fire loss for the year was $55,445. 

SEWER SYSTEM 

In 1907 the Legislature passed an act authorizing the Town of Wellesley to 
elect a board of sewer commissioners, which should have charge of the con- 
struction of a sewer system for the town. No commissioners were elected under 
this act until March 8, 191 5, when William H. Blood, Jr., Isaac Sprague and 
Charles E. Fuller were chosen at the annual town meeting, "to have charge of 
the construction of a system of sewers for Wellesley." The work of sewer 
building was commenced in 19 15, the commissioners making a contract with 
Coleman Brothers for certain lines of sewer. In 1916 the same commissioners 
were again elected and in their report for the year 1916 they say: 




THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE, WEELESLEY COLLEGE 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 283 

"'During the year the construction of the main trunk sewer from the Welles- 
ley-Needham line to a point near the junction of Washington Street and Long- 
fellow Road in Wellesley Hills has been completed. Additional lateral sewers 
have been constructed in parts of Wellesley Village, in the Abbott Road district, 
Wellesley Hills and in other streets south of Washington Street in Wellesley 
Hills. To the main trunk sewer have been added 6,610 feet, making the total 
length of this sewer constructed to date 20,826 feet. During the year 38,428 
feet of lateral sewers have been built, making the length of lateral sewers com- 
pleted, 49.506 feet. . . . Proposals for bids for additional work on sewer 
construction to be undertaken during the year 1916, were published early in 
May, and the bids were received and opened May 18th. The contract was 
awarded to John E. Palmer of Boston. . . . During the latter part of May 
proposals for bids for house connections were published and bids were received 
and opened June 1st. The contract was awarded to Charles N. Taylor of 
Wellesley." 

The total cost of sewers to December 31, 19 16, was $202,023. At the same 
time the amount of sewer bonds outstanding was $225,000. With the comple- 
tion of the system as planned by the commissioners, the Town of Wellesley will 
be as well provided with sewers as any town in the state. 

PUBLIC BATH HOUSE 

In the report of the selectmen for the year 1916 is the following statement: 
"During the past year Wellesley College offered the town the use of its bath 
houses on Lake Waban for bathing purposes in the summer season, and this 
offer was accepted by the selectmen, and the value of the generous offer of the 
college has been demonstrated while the bathing privileges have been in use. 
Mr. Joseph E. Curry was installed as superintendent in charge of the bath houses 
and the board believes that from a sanitary standpoint, as well as that of pleasure, 
the proposition has been a tremendous success. The board will therefore 
recommend at the March meeting that something be done along permanent lines 
to insure the establishment of permanent bath houses." 

MODERN WELLESLEY 

Some idea of the growth of Wellesley since its incorporation may be gained 
from the following comparative statement: In 1881 the assessed valuation of 
property was $3,024,698, and in 1916 it was $22,645,434; the total appropriations 
in 1881 amounted to $28,550, and in 1916 to $319,765; the total net debt at the 
close of the year 1881 was $50,000, and at the close of 1916 it was $509,915. 
In 1910 the population, according to the United States census, was 5,413, and 
the state census of 191 5 reported a population of 6.439, a g am °f LO 2 ^ in five 
years. Wellesley has seven modern public school buildings and is the seat of 
Wellesley College, the history of which is given in another chapter. In 1916 
the town paid $66,583 for the support of its public schools. The town has one 
national and one private bank, two newspapers, besides the Wellesley College 
News, Congregational, Catholic, Unitarian and Episcopal churches, a number 
of manufacturing and mercantile establishments, steam and electric railway lines, 



284 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

etc. The following, which was written of the town in 1883, is applicable today : 
"The charm of the Town of Wellesley consists in its refined rural atmosphere, 
its pleasant homes, its delightful drives and its beautiful landscape scenery." 

TOWN OFFICERS 

At the beginning of the year 191 7 the principal town offices were held by the 
following incumbents : Otho L. Schofield, Harrison A. Plympton and Patrick J. 
Fitzpatrick, selectmen; Flavius J. Lake, Franklin B. Ingraham and Job Mona- 
ghan, assessors; John T. Ryan, clerk; Fred O. Johnson, treasurer; John H. 
Sheridan, tax collector; Richard Cunningham, auditor; Dr. Gilbert N. Jones, 
Dr. Royal Hatch and Frederick D. Woods, board of health ; Sara S. Gilson, 
Charles A. Sibley and Sydney M. Williams, school committee ; Thomas T. Watt, 
Charles E. Fuller and William H. Brainerd, park commissioners; Charles L. 
Cavanaugh, William J. Dana and Claude U. Gilson, constables. The board of 
selectmen also acted as overseers of the poor, highway surveyors, town agents 
and fence viewers. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 
THE TOWN OF WESTWOOD 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION EARLY HISTORY THIRD PARISH OF DEDHAM WESTWOOD 

INCORPORATED — ACT OF INCORPORATION — FIRST TOWN MEETING TOWN HALL — 

POSTOFFICES — FIRE DEPARTMENT — TOWN OFFICERS, 1917 WESTWOOD OF TODAY. 

Westwood, one of the comparatively new towns of Norfolk County, is cen- 
trally located, being bounded on the north and east by Dedham ; on the south- 
east by Canton ; on the south by Norwood ; and on the west by Walpole and 
Dover. The Neponset River flows along- the eastern boundary line, separating 
Westwood from Canton, and in the western part the town is watered by Mill 
Brook, Bubbling Brook and Buckminster Pond. The surface is diversified and 
from some of the highest hilltops a fine view of the surrounding country may 
be obtained. 

EARLY HISTORY 

The territory comprising the Town of Westwood was included in the original 
plantation on the Charles River, which was ordered to be established by the 
General Court on September 3, 1635, and was incorporated as the Town of 
Dedham on September 8, 1636. The history of Westwood is therefore a part 
of the history of Dedham from 1635 until its incorporation as a separate town 
in 1897. 

On October 8, 1730, the present towns of Norwood and Westwood were 
incorporated by an act of the General Court as the "South Precinct of Dedham." 
A controversy soon arose in the new precinct over the location of the meeting 
house, with the result that several petitions were presented to the General Court, 
asking that body to settle the dispute by sending a committee to view the situa- 
tion and decide on a location for the said meeting house. In response to one of 
these petitions, a number of the inhabitants of the South Precinct were "set off* 
from said Precinct & again layed to the First Precinct in the Town of Dedham. 
whereunto they originally Belonged." 

Those who were thus reunited with the old parish were not satisfied with the 
situation in which they were placed, owing to the distance they had to go to 
attend public worship, and on April 13, 1734, a petition was signed by Joseph Ellis 
and others, asking that they be set off as a separate parish or precinct, with 
authority to build a meeting house and employ a minister, and to be exempt from 
paying rates to the Town of Dedham for the support of the minister in the First 
Parish. Although the prayer of the petitioners was not at that time granted, 
they organized a religious society on June 4, 1735, and installed Rev. Josiah 

285 



286 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Dwight, a son of Capt. Timothy Dwight, as their pastor. The parish was hnally 
incorporated as the "Clapboard Trees" parish on January 10, 1736, and was 
known as the Third Parish of Dedham. The name clapboard trees no doubt 
was derived from the fact that in that vicinity grew timber suitable for making 
clapboards to cover the dwelling houses erected by the early settlers. On Janu- 
ary 17, 1836, Rev. John White, then pastor of the church in the Third Parish, 
preached a historical sermon, reviewing the growth and work of the parish dur- 
ing the one hundred years of its existence. 

WESTWOOD INCORPORATED 

In the course of time the parish became known as "West Dedham," under 
which name it continued until the early part of the year 1897, when the follow- 
ing petition was presented to the Legislature: 

"To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts : 

"The undersigned petitioners, citizens of Dedham in said Commonwealth, 
respectfully represent that they are inhabitants of the village of West Dedham, 
in the said town, or of parts of said town most nearly allied in interest with said 
West Dedham ; that they are desirous of having the village of West Dedham, 
with a certain other portion of the territory of the said Town of Dedham, set off 
as a separate town under the name of West Dedham, or such other name as to 
the General Court may seem suitable ; and that the boundaries of such new town 
be fixed as follows : — Beginning at a line near the bridge across the Neponset 
River near Green Lodge Station, so called, upon the Boston & Providence Rail- 
road ; thence in a straight line to the junction of Canton and East streets ; thence 
in a straight line to the junction of Washington and Elm streets; thence in a 
straight line to the junction of Grove and Higte streets; thence to the boundary 
stone between the towns of Dedham and Needham which is nearest to the Town 
of Dover, and on all other sides by the towns of Dover, Walpole, Norwood and 
Canton, as the town lines now exist." 

This petition, which was signed by Calvin S. Locke, Luther A. Eaton, Henry 
E. Weatherbee and "twenty-two others," resulted in a bill granting the prayer 
of the petitioners being introduced in the House of Representatives on February 
2 3> 1 ^97- After a thorough consideration of the subject by that branch of the 
Legislature, the bill was passed and on March nth was sent to the Senate. In 
due time it passed the Senate and on April 2, 1897, the governor gave his approval 
to the following 

ACT OF INCORPORATION 

"Be it enacted, etc., That all the territory now within the Town of Dedham 
which lies southwesterly of the following described line, that is to say : Begin- 
ning at the Neponset River at the center of said river and the easterly line of 
Greenlodge Street, where said street crosses said river; thence running north, 
47° 45' west, a distance of seven thousand six hundred and forty-eight and 
seven-tenths feet through private lands and crossing Greenlodge Street, to a 
point on the northerly side of East Street ; theijce by a course north, 70 55' 




TOWN HALL, WESTWOOD 




POSTOFFICE AX]) HIGH SCHOOL, WESTWOOD 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 287 

west, a distance of five thousand five hundred and eighty-six and forty-six- 
hundredths feet through private lands and crossing the roadbed of the New 
England Railroad, Elm Street and the roadbed of the Norfolk County Railroad, 
to a point on the northerly side of Washington Street at the junction of Gay 
Street with said Washington Street; thence by a course north, 45 26' west, 
a distance of seven thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine and seven-tenths 
feet through private lands and crossing the Sandy Valley road, to a point on the 
northerly side of High Street at the junction of Grove Street with said High 
Street ; thence running by a course north, 50 22' west, a distance of nine thou- 
sand one hundred and forty-seven feet through private lands and crossing West- 
field Street, to a point in the center of Charles River; thence running south- 
westerly along said Charles River a distance of three hundred and forty feet, 
about to the present dividing line between the towns of Dover and Dedham, 
where said line meets the Charles River — is hereby incorporated into a separate 
town, by the name of Westwood ; and the said Town of Westwood is hereby 
vested with all the powers, privileges, rights and immunities, and shall be subject 
to all the duties and requirements to which other towns are entitled and subject, 
under the constitution and laws of the Commonwealth." 

Other sections of the act relate to the payment of taxes, the care of paupers 
and the division of town property and debt, in about the same language as that 
usually used in the incorporation of new towns. Some of the petitioners wanted 
to name the town "Nahatan," but the Legislature decided upon the name of 
"Westwood." 

FIRST TOWN MEETING 

Pursuant to the provisions of the act of incorporation, W. W. Baker, a justice 
of the peace, issued his warrant to John Dean on April 6, 1897, directing him to 
notify the legal voters of a town meeting at Colburn Hall on Saturday, April 17, 
1897. As this was the first meeting called in the new town, nearly every voter was 
present. Howard Colburn was chosen moderator and the meeting then proceeded 
to the election of officers, with the following result : Benjamin Fisher, Henry E. 
Weatherbee and John L. Fisher, selectmen, surveyors of highways, overseers of 
the poor and board of health ; Henry E. French, William Schlusemeyer and David 
A. Hodgdon, assessors; Willie W. Baker, clerk; George A. French, treasurer; 
Charles H. Ellis, tax collector; George Kingsbury, auditor; Calvin S. Locke, W. 
W. Baker and Crawford D. Place, school committee ; John Dean, George W. 
Thompson and Isaac H. Carter, constables. 

TOWN HALL 

At a meeting held on June 15, 1909, it was voted to appropriate the sum of 
$30,000 for the erection of a new town hall, and a building committee was ap- 
pointed. Hurd & Gore, architects of Boston, submitted a design which was 
accepted, and the contract was awarded to Frank C. Woodward. The building was 
completed in 191 1. On the first floor are the town offices and a small hall; the 
second floor is occupied by a large hall, with the customary anterooms ; and in the 
basement is a banquet hall and the town lock-up. The building is a substantial 



288 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

edifice of brick and stone and is surmounted by a tower in which is a clock. West- 
wood has one of the best town halls in the county. 

POSTOFFICES 

"West Dedham" postoffice was established in 1824, with Jason Ellis as post- 
master. When the Town of Westwood was incorporated, the name of the post- 
office was changed to correspond to that of the town. During the ninety-three 
years that this postoffice has been in existence, it has had but three postmasters. 
Jason Ellis served for a number of years, when he was succeeded by Theodore Gay, 
who served until 1880, when the present incumbent, Charles H. Ellis, was ap- 
pointed. The only other postoffice in the town is at Islington. It is of compara- 
tively recent origin. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

Westwood has four fire companies, three of which were inherited from Ded- 
ham. Nearly opposite the town hall is the building occupied by the Franklin 
Engine Company No. 1, and Hose Company No. 1. There is another fire station 
near the Unitarian Church and one at Pond Plain, both equipped with hand engines 
and hose carts, and at Islington, in the eastern part of the town, is a chemical engine. 
The cost of maintaining the department for the year 1916 was $1,529. All the 
apparatus is of rather obsolete pattern and in their report for the year 1916 the 
board of engineers recommended the purchase of a combination auto truck, but 
their recommendation had not been approved by the town at the close of the year. 

TOWN OFFICERS, I917 

At the beginning of the year 191 7 the principal town offices were occupied by 
the following incumbents : Henry E. Weatherbee, Herbert W. Bonney and George 
C. Lee, selectmen ; William L. Lucey, William H. McLaren and Benjamin F. 
White, assessors; Willie W. Baker, clerk (Mr. Baker has held the office of town 
clerk ever since Westwood was incorporated) ; Edward S. Colburn, treasurer; 
Charles H. Ellis, tax collector; Richard Lennihan, Carrol H. Draper and Gran- 
ville W. Baker, auditors ; Mrs. Louisa C. Perkins, John C. Mulvehill and William 
H. Spokesfield, school committee; Frederick Fisher, Albert C. Crocker and 
Thomas H. Kelly, constables. The selectmen also serve as overseers of the poor, 
surveyors of highways and board of health. 

WESTWOOD OF TODAY 

Westwood is a typical rural town. Without bank, manufacturing enterprises 
or a newspaper, the people "pursue the even tenor of their way." The town has 
two public school buildings — the Colburn School at Westwood and the Islington 
School — Baptist, Congregational and Unitarian churches, a public library, and 
well kept highways. But the town's greatest attraction is its homes, nearly all of 
which are owned by the occupants, who take commendable pride in keeping up 
their premises. In 1910 the population was 1,266 and in 1915 it was 1,448, a gain 
of 222 in five years. The assessed valuation of property in 19 16 was $5,924,108, 
an increase of $1,139,222 over that of the preceding year. 



CHAPTER XXXV 
THE TOWN OF WEYMOUTH 

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES — SURFACE AND DRAINAGE — SETTLEMENT — THE GORGES 

COMPANY THE HULL COMPANY — ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES — THE INDIAN 

TITLE — EARLY LANDOWNERS — INDIAN WARS — THE SOUTH PRECINCT — ATTEMPT 

TO DIVIDE THE TOWN — ALMSHOUSES — POSTOFFICES — SOLDIERS' MONUMENT 

WATERWORKS FIRE DEPARTMENT ELECTRIC LIGHT TOWN HALL FISHERIES 

— FINANCIAL HISTORY — WEYMOUTH OF THE PRESENT — TOWN OFFICERS. 

Weymouth is the most eastern of the Norfolk County towns except Cohasset, 
which is detached from the main body of the county. On the north, Weymouth 
is bounded by the Massachusetts Bay; on the east by the Town of Hingham; on 
the south by Plymouth County ; and on the west by Braintree and Holbrook. 
From north to south it is a little over nine miles in extent and its average width 
is about two and a half miles. It has a water front on the Weymouth Fore and 
Back Rivers of over eight miles. 

SURFACE AND DRAINAGE 

While the general surface of the town is undulating, there are only two hills 
of notable prominence — Great Hill on the shore of the bay in the northern part 
and King Oak Hill, about a mile farther south. A considerable portion of the 
area is covered by ponds, the largest of which is Great Pond, also known as Wessa- 
gusset Lake, in the southerly part. It is over a mile and a fourth long and about 
a third of a mile in width. Whitman's Pond, in the central portion, is next in size, 
being nearly as long as Great Pond but not so wide. Whortleberry Pond, a small 
circular body of water, lies a little south of Whitman's Pond, and Rolling Mill 
Pond is connected with Whitman's. 

Mill River, the outlet of Great Pond, passes through Whitman's Pond to Back 
River, a distance, following its meanderings, of some five or six miles. Old Swamp 
River rises in Hingham and flows into Whitman's Pond. These two rivers are the 
only streams of consequence in the town. Both have fine water privileges which 
have been utilized to some extent for manufacturing purposes. 

SETTLEMENT 

In Tune, 1622, about sixty men came over from England in two small vessels — 
the Charity and the Swan — and landed on the north shore of what is now the Town 
of Weymouth at a place called by the Indians "W r essaguscus" (also written Wes- 
sagusset). The place where they established their settlement is on the south bank 

VoL 1—19 _„ 

289 



290 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

of the Fore River, a little east of Hunt's Hill Point. Back of this expedition was 
Thomas Weston, a merchant of London, who had been associated with the Pil- 
grims in their negotiations with the Plymouth Company, and whose dream was to 
establish a trading post that would yield large profits. 

Unfortunately, in the selection of men to carry out his project, he accepted any 
one willing to join the expedition without regard to his qualifications for the work 
in hand. These men came without families, had no definite idea of the methods to 
be followed, and no settled habits of industry. Being without a competent leader, 
they soon became dissatisfied with their surroundings, neglected their work, and, 
as might be expected, they were soon reduced to the verge of starvation. They 
appealed to the Plymouth colony for assistance, but the people there were far from 
opulent and could not help them. It is said that ten of the number actually per- 
ished of starvation. After the expedition of Miles Standish in March, 1623 (see 
Chap. IV), the company disbanded, the men going in different directions, and by 
the summer of 1623 not one was left at Wessaguscus. Thus ended in failure the 
first attempt to plant a settlement in Weymouth. 

THE GORGES COMPANY 

A few months after the disappearance of the Weston colony, probably in early 
September, 1623, another expedition sailed up the Fore River and landed at the 
deserted plantation. It was led by Robert Gorges, a son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 
acting under a charter from the Plymouth Company. The men who came with 
Captain Gorges were of a different type from those sent over by Weston the year 
before, one of them being Rev. William Morrell, a minister of the Church of Eng- 
land. The charter gave them "ten miles of the coast on the northeast side of the 
Massachusetts Bay and extending thirty miles inland." In selecting the place to 
begin his settlement, Gorges no doubt thought Wessaguscus was covered by the 
grant. Says Gilbert Nash: "They chose their ten miles evidenly to include the 
entrance to Boston Harbor, and this mistake, if mistake it were, was the cause of 
much trouble in the future." Mr. Nash says further : "The plan of the colony 
was projected upon a scale of magnificent proportions and with machinery suffi- 
cient to conduct the affairs of an empire. Captain Gorges was named as Governor- 
General, with a general oversight of the company's officers in America, and 
authority by commission to carry out his plans. Associated with him in the govern- 
ment were Capt. Francis West, admiral; Christopher Levet, Esq., perhaps the 
chief judicial officer, and such others as the Governor-General chose to appoint, 
any two of whom, with himself, were empowered to transact any business neces- 
sary for the government of the colony. The governor of Plymouth, for the time 
being, was constituted a member of the government." 

As soon as Governor Bradford of Plymouth learned that the company had 
arrived at Wessaguscus, he made arrangements to visit the colony. Before he 
had time to put his design into execution, Gorges, while on a tour of inspection 
over his grant, encountered bad weather and took refuge at Plymouth. After 
remaining there a few days he returned by land to his settlement. Upon his 
arrival there it appears he for the first time exercised his authority as governor- 
general by causing the arrest of Thomas Weston, who had come into Plymouth 
Bay on the Swan, and ordering him and his vessel to be sent around to Wessagus- 




BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF WESSAGUSSETT FROM GREAT HILL, NORTH WEYMOUTH 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 291 

cus. Not long after this he returned to England, with a considerable portion of 
his company, "thoroughly disgusted with the work of founding an empire in the 
New World." 

After the departure of Gorges, some of his colonists went to Virginia, Rev. 
William Morrell took up his temporary abode at Plymouth, and a few remained 
at Wessaguscus. In fact the settlement made by Gorges at Wessaguscus was never 
entirely broken up. Mr. Morrell went back to England in 1624 and the same year 
a number of emigrants from Weymouth, England, joined the little band on the 
shores of the Fore River. With them came a non-conformist minister by the name 
of Barnard, who remained in the settlement until his death. The records of the 
colony for the next few years are meager, though there is an occasional mention 
of the settlement at Wessaguscus, indicating continual though small accessions to 
the number of inhabitants. Governor Winthrop visited the place in 1632 and was 
"liberally entertained by those residing there," and in the next year Wessaguscus is 
mentioned as "a small village." All the evidence tends to show that the Gorges 
settlement was permanent and therefore the second settlement in Massachusetts. 

THE HULL COMPANY 

On July 8, 1635, the General Court granted permission to Rev. Joseph Hull, 
with twenty-one families, numbering about one hundred persons, to settle at 
Wessaguscus. This was the largest addition, perhaps, that was ever made to the 
settlement at any one time in its history. The members of this company were 
people of sober and industrious habits and they were welcomed with joy by those 
who had preceded them. They came from the Town of Weymouth, England, and 
quickly acquired prominence in the new settlement with which they now cast 
their lot. Mr. Hull became for a time the minister of the town. On September 2, 
1635, tne settlement was erected into a plantation and the name was then changed 
to Weymouth. The next day the plantation was ordered to send a representative 
to the General Court. Although an infant settlement, there were three political 
factions in the plantation. The first represented those of the Gorges company who 
had not abandoned the place; the secon'd was made up of those who came from 
other towns in the colony ; and the third was composed of those who came over 
with Mr. Hull in the summer. The first faction voted for John Bursley, the second 
for William Reade, and the third for John Upham. The court recognized Mr. 
Reade and the other two were compelled to retire. 

Regarding the change of name from Wessaguscus to Weymouth, the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Collections (Vol. XXI, p. 396) says the reason for the adop- 
tion of the new name is unknown, "but probably in honor of Capt. George Way- 
mouth, the navigator. It is to be noted that, 20th March, 1635, about one hundred 
persons are recorded at W'eymouth, County Dorset, England, as bound hither." 
There is little doubt that the name was suggested by some member of Mr. Hull's 
company as a tribute of respect to the old home town in England. 

ADJUSTING THE BOUNDARIES 

The Colonial Records of Massachusetts show that in March, 1635, a commit- 
tee was chosen to fix the boundaries between Wessaguscus and Mount Wollaston, 



292 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

and in July following another committee was charged with the duty of establish- 
ing the line between Wessaguscus and Bare Cove (now Hingham). Notice that 
the former of these committees was appointed before the arrival of the Hull com- 
pany and is another evidence that a permanent settlement existed in Weymouth. 
From the time of Weymouth's incorporation in 1635 for several years after- 
ward, the boundary lines between Plymouth County on the south and the Town of 
Braintree on the west appear to have been a question of frequent disputes. Com- 
mittees were several times appointed by Weymouth to join with a committee from 
Braintree in running and marking the line between the two towns, but for some 
reason Braintree declined to act. Finally the people of Weymouth lost patience 
and at a town meeting held on June 13, 1712, instructed the selectmen to bring an 
action against the selectmen of Braintree for their persistent refusal to run the 
dividing line as the law provided, and voted to stand by them in any suit brought 
for that purpose. If such an action was ever instituted in the courts, it seems 
that it failed to accomplish its end, as the Weymouth-Braintree line was not set- 
tled until in the latter part of the Nineteenth Century. 

THE INDIAN TITLE 

Although the English Government granted to Robert Gorges a tract of land 
embracing ten miles of sea coast and extending thirty miles into the interior, the 
grant did not dispossess the Indians, who were the real owners of the land. 
Therefore, the first settlers at Wessaguscus were what might be termed ''squat- 
ters," so far as the Indian title was concerned. Their title was merely that of 
possession, but back of that possession there was nothing which would enable them 
to hold the land upon which they had located before it was really in the possession 
of either the Plymouth or Massachusetts Bay Company. No one realized the pre- 
carious character of their tenure better than themselves and negotiations were set 
on foot to purchase the land from the Indians. The Indians did not own land as 
individuals, but as a tribe. A purchase from the chiefs bound every member of 
the tribe to their action. On April 26, 1642, a deed was executed by the resident 
chiefs, who signed themselves as Wampetuck, alias Jonas Webacowett, Nateaunt 
and Nahawton. This deed is recorded among the deeds of Suffolk County. With 
the execution of this deed, the town was in a position to allot the lands and con- 
firm the inhabitants in their possessions. The list of landowners made soon after- 
ward indicate that this was done. 

EARLY LANDOWNERS 

Says Mr. Nash : "In this list, which is very incomplete as will be easily seen, 
there are the names of seventy-one persons with a general description of the prop- 
erty owned by them. In these descriptions the names of seventeen others are 
mentioned, from whom some of the property was purchased, or to whom the 
original grants were made. There are also mentioned as owners of property 
bounding the different lots described, the names of fifty-two, who do not appear 
in the other two classes, yet who must have been property owners or they could 
not have been abuttors, making in all 123, at least, real estate owners at the time 
the list was made up. Why this large number escaped record we have no means 




INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, LOOKING NORTH. 
SOUTH WEYMOUTH 




COLUMBIAN SQUARE, SOUTH WEYMOUTH 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 293 

of knowing, but since such is the fact we may reasonably infer that many others 
may have been omitted altogether, and that the full number was originally much 
greater ; in fact we have evidence that this was so, from incidental mention in the 
later records. Taking, however, the lists as they come to us, we have the names of 
123, without doubt most of them heads of families. These with an average of five 
to a family, a moderate estimate for those days, would furnish a population of 
more than 600.'' 

Of the 123 landowners mentioned by Mr. Nash, only seventeen are recognized 
as members of the Hull company which came over in 1635. John Bursley, Wil- 
liam Jeffries and a man named Ludden are recognized as members of the Gorges 
company and had no doubt maintained their residence there from the year 1623. 
Others in the list were Robert Abell, Henry Adams, John Allen, Stephen French, 
John Glover, Walter Harris, Edmond Hart, James Parker, Thomas Richards, 
Thomas Rawlins, Clement Briggs, Richard Sylvester and Clement Weaver, all of 
whom were living in Weymouth as early as 1630. 

INDIAN WARS 

Probably one reason for the selection of W T essaguscus for a settlement was the 
fact that there were but few Indians living in the immediate vicinity. Although 
in a retired spot, the settlement was not altogether free from the effects of Indian 
depredations in other parts of the province. In 1637, when 160 men were called 
for to serve in the war with the Pequot Indians, Weymouth's quota was five men. 
They were furnished, and from that time until after King Philip's war the town 
always contributed both in men and money to the various expeditions sent against 
the savages. 

In the French and Indian war, forty Weymouth men served in Col. Benjamin 
Lincoln's regiment in the expeditions of 1755 and 1756 to Crown Point and Lake 
George. These forty men were members of a company commanded by Capt. 
Samuel Thaxter. Colonel Lincoln was afterward promoted to general, and Lieut. 
Solomon Lovell, one of the Weymouth company also became a general in the 
Revolution. When the British captured Nova Scotia (then called Acadia) in 
1755, the inhabitants were forced to abandon their homes and a large number of 
them was brought to Boston. They were known as "French Neuters," and as no 
provision had been made for their care and support, they were divided into small 
companies and sent to the various towns. Weymouth received its share of these 
unfortunates. On March 8, 1756, the records of the town meeting show that Dr. 
Nathaniel White was paid eight shillings per week for a year for keeping French 
Neuters, and on the last day of February, 1761, James Humphrey was allowed six 
pounds for a similar purpose. 

THE SOUTH PRECINCT 

As the town increased its population the settlements gradually extended over 
practically the entire territory. Being a long, narrow town, those living in the 
southern part were placed at a disadvantage in the matter of school and church 
conveniences. Schools could be provided at comparatively small expense, but the 
church difficulty was not so easily settled. The church had already been located 



294 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

and built in tbe northern part of the town, and those living near the meeting house 
looked with decided opposition upon the proposal to establish a new church for 
the benefit of those living farther south, arguing that the town was too poor to 
bear the burden. 

In 1722 the people of the southern portion came to the determination to ask the 
General Court to set them off as a distinct town or precinct. The north part, 
feeling secure in its majority of voters, was just as fully determined to oppose 
the movement. A town meeting was called and a committee appointed to oppose 
the petition in the General Court. A majority of the members of the Court, how- 
ever, recognized the justice of the petitioners' request and in the spring of 1723 
the petition was granted. The South Precinct was then organized with an area 
embracing more than half of the town. There were still occasional difficulties 
over the possession of the parsonage property, which was in the North Precinct, 
and which the people there refused to relinquish. 

During the next forty years the South Precinct steadily gained in numbers 
and influence and on March 24, 1761, that section of the town was strong enough 
to define the word ''ministry" in the parsonage deed to include both ministers, and 
that each should draw his income from the town revenues in proportion to the 
amount of tax paid by his parish. A meeting house had been erected in the South 
Precinct about the time the petition was presented to the General Court in 1722. 
The parish was organized on June 21, 1723, and the Second Congregational 
Church, of South Weymouth, now the Old South Church, was organized on Sep- 
tember 18, 1723, with Rev. James Bayley as pastor. 

ATTEMPT TO DIVIDE THE TOWN 

In 1796 another effort was made to divide the town. This time the North 
Precinct was the aggressor. A petition to that effect was prepared and signed by 
a majority of the residents of the North Precinct, for presentation to the General 
Court. The South Precinct was practically unanimous in its opposition. Nothing 
came of that petition and for the next six or seven years the subject was one of 
constant discussion by the citizens and in the town meetings. In 1802 a census 
was taken, showing 965 inhabitants in the North Precinct and 838 in the South. 
The question came before the Legislature and the Senate voted in favor of the 
division, but the House refused to concur. The whole question was then referred 
to the next session of the General Court, and there the matter ended. A few 
spasmodic attempts have been made since then to bring about a division, but with- 
out any prospect of success. One of these was made in the town meeting of March 
19, 1866, when by a vote of 269 to 239 an order was made for the division of the 
town upon the line forming the northerly boundary of the fifth and sixth school 
districts, and a committee of one from each district was appointed to carry the vote 
into effect, but nothing was done. At the annual meeting in March, 1878, attention 
was called to the failure of the committee to discharge its assigned duty, and the 
selectmen, with three from each ward (twenty in all), were constituted a com- 
mittee to consider the matter and report. Their report was made at the next 
annual meeting, March 3, 1879, "that it is inexpedient to divide the town at this 
time," and there the whole matter ended. Another effort was made about fifteen 
years later, but it also came to naught. 




SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, WEYMOUTH HEIGHTS 




VIEW FROM SOLDIERS" MONUMENT, WEYMOUTH HEIGHTS 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 295 

ALMSHOUSES 

Tn 1779, after several unsuccessful efforts, it was voted to build a "work- 
house near the center of the town, not far from Tirrell's mill, for the accommoda- 
tion of the poor." Owing to the hardships imposed upon the people by the Revolu- 
tionary war, and various other causes, the number of paupers had increased to 
such an extent as to require this action on the part of the town. The house then 
erected was used as an almshouse until 1809, when another was erected at Wey- 
mouth Landing for the same purpose. The house at Weymouth Landing was used 
until the establishment of the town farm, on Essex Street, in 1839. 

Early on the morning of September 14, 191 7, fire was discovered in the town 
farm buildings. At that time there were eighteen inmates in the institution, all of 
whom were saved except Mrs. Mary Rosa, eighty-five years of age, who perished 
in the flames. Being a cripple, she was unable to escape. The loss was $40,000. 
At a special town meeting held on Friday evening, September 28, 191 7, the sum of 
$40,000 was appropriated for a new building. 

POSTOFFICES 

On February 6, 1804, the town instructed the selectmen to petition the post- 
master-general for a postoffice to be established at the head of navigation on the 
Fore River. The petition was granted and the postoffice was named Weymouth. 
It was the first postoffice in the town, but the writer has been unable to learn the 
name of the first postmaster or any of the history of the office in its early days. 
At the beginning of the year 1917 there were four postoffices in the town, located 
at Weymouth, East Weymouth, North Weymouth and South Weymouth. 

soldiers' monument 

Weymouth furnished nearly six hundred and fifty men for the Union army 
in the War of the Rebellion, over one hundred of whom were killed in action or 
died while in the service of the United States. The war was scarcely at an end 
when a movement was started to erect a monument to commemorate their serv- 
ices in behalf of their country. After several meetings an appropriation was 
made and the monument was erected in the old North Cemetery. It stands upon 
a terrace on the easterly side of the highway, a plain granite obelisk, a suitable 
tribute on the part of the people of Weymouth in behalf of the memory of those 
who sacrificed their lives upon the altar of their country. The monument was 
dedicated in 1868. 

WATERWORKS 

For several years prior to 1880, the question of utilizing the waters of Great 
Pond as a supply for the town had been discussed in private conversations and 
in town meetings, but nothing was accomplished until April 6, 1881, when the 
Legislature passed an act authorizing the town to use the waters of the pond for 
extinguishing fires, domestic purposes, lay mains, set hydrants, etc., when the 
act was accepted by a two-thirds vote of the town. 



296 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Two years passed and the act had not been accepted by the voters. On May 
3, 1883, Peter W. French, Leavitt Bates, Zachariah L. Bicknell, John P. Lovell, 
Nathan D. Canterbury, Marshall C. Dizer, Joseph Totman and their associates 
and successors were incorporated as the East Weymouth Water Company, "for 
the purpose of furnishing the inhabitants of the Town of Weymouth with water 
from Weymouth Great Pond and the waters which flow into it," and to connect 
with the pipes of the Hingham Water Company at the boundary line. The 
Town of Weymouth was given the power to purchase the franchise and property 
of the company at any time during the life of its charter. 

The passage of this act served as a stimulus to the people of Weymouth to 
accept the provisions of the act of 1881, which was done at a special town meet- 
ing called for the purpose on September 18, 1883. The vote in favor of accept- 
ance was 356 to 114. At an adjourned meeting on the 25th Josiah Reed, 
Augustus J. Richards and Henry A. Nash were elected water commissioners." 
In the meantime the waters of Great Pond had been subjected to an analysis and 
the meeting voted an appropriation of $1,000 to employ an engineer to make 
survey and submit plans for a system of waterworks. Oran White and Thomas 
H. Humphrey were added to the board of water commissioners. 

The board employed M. M. Tidd to examine the waters of Great Pond and 
make plans for the waterworks. He reported a plan including thirty-seven miles 
of mains, with the Great Pond as the source of supply, and estimated the cost 
of such a plant as contemplated at $296,000. At the annual meeting on March 
3, 1884, it was voted to issue bonds to the amount of $300,000, the vote on the 
question being 529 to 231. 

On May 12, 1885, the act incorporating the East Weymouth Water Company 
was repealed, because it came in conflict with the act of April 6, 1881, which 
granted to the town the right to use the waters of Great Pond to supply the 
inhabitants of the town. 

In the construction of the works a pumping station was built at South Wey- 
mouth to lift the water from Great Pond to a reservoir, also at South Weymouth, 
whence it is supplied to the town by gravity. The pumping machinery was 
installed by the George F. Blake Manufacturing Company and the Deane Steam 
Pump Works, each having a daily capacity of 1,500,000 gallons. The reservoir 
has a capacity of 700,000 gallons. At the close of the year 1916 the system 
embraced 76.55 miles of mains, 453 hydrants, with 1,940 meters in use. The 
total number of gallons pumped during the year was 141,126,790. According to 
the statement of the town accountant, the cost of the plant to December 31, 
1 91 6, was $600,339.35. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

About 1830 a company of volunteer firemen was organized at Weymouth 
Landing and a small hand engine called the "Aquarius" was purchased. For 
many years this company was the only fire protection in the town, except the 
primitive "bucket brigade," which passed the buckets from hand to hand, back 
and forth, the man nearest the fire dashing the water upon the flames, unless the 
fire was too hot for him to get within reach, in which case the only thing to do 
was to protect the adjoining buildings from destruction. 




FORT POINT BIRD'S-EYE VIEW FROM GREAT HILL. NORTH WEYMOUTH 




JREAT HILL FROM QUINCY POINT BRIDGE, NORTH WEYMOUTH 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 297 

The town was divided into fire districts about 1844 ar >d hand engines pro- 
vided. The next month the order was rescinded, and nothing further was done 
until the annual meeting on March 5, 1877, when a committee of three from each 
ward was chosen to organize a fire department. The committee reported in 
May in favor of the purchase of three fire engines, three hose carriages, and 
two hook and ladder trucks, also to build three engine houses and construct five 
reservoirs. The appropriation asked to carry out this plan was $18,000, which 
was voted by the meeting and the Weymouth Fire Department became a reality. 
In January, 1878, an appropriation of $1,100 was made for the purchase of 
another hand engine, and in May the sum of $2,000 was voted for an engine 
and hose carriage. 

In March, 1880, the first steam fire engine was purchased at a cost of $3,200. 
It was stationed in the Third Ward, which caused the people of some of the 
other wards to look with some jealousy upon the proceeding, and in 1883 a 
second steamer was purchased for $4,200 and placed in the Second Ward. The 
department now consists of seven hose companies and a hook and ladder com- 
pany. Companies one, two, three and five are equipped with auto combination 
trucks ; companies four, six and seven, and the "Hardscrabble" hook and ladder 
company with apparatus drawn by horses. The cost of maintenance for the 
year 1916 was $14,690, and during the year the department answered forty- 
seven alarms. * 

ELECTRIC LIGHT 

The Town of Weymouth is lighted by electricity from the plant of C. D. 
Parker & Company (incorporated) of Boston, which operates about twenty 
such plants in the State of Massachusetts. The Weymouth plant began business 
in 1889. It now supplies the towns of Weymouth, Hull, Hingham, Randolph 
and Holbrook and furnishes power to a number of the shoe factories in Wey- 
mouth. Between the years 1910 and 1916 the works were generally overhauled, 
new machinery installed and the efficiency increased along all lines. The prin- 
cipal office of the company is in East Weymouth. The appropriation made by 
the annual meeting in March, 1916, for lighting the streets was $12,500. At the 
close of the year a balance of $219.10 was turned back into the town treasury. 
The committee on electric lighting in their report at the close of the year, says : 
"The Weymouth Light and Power Company have given us excellent service and 
have been ready and willing at all times to assist us in fulfilling their part of the 
contract." 

TOWN HALL 

Weymouth was without a town hall until 1852, when "a plain, inexpensive 
structure was built on the westerly side of Washington Street, at the corner of 
Middle Street, and very near the geographical center of the town." In 1907 it 
was taken down and rebuilt at East Weymouth, where it was burned in 1914 
and since then the town offices have been housed on the second floor of the East 
Weymouth Savings Bank Building. 



298 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

FISHERIES 

During the early years of Weymouth's history a considerable portion of the 
food supply came from the fish taken from the ponds or the waters along the 
borders of the town. The principal dependence was placed upon the herring, or 
alewives, which came up into the ponds by way of the Back River to spawn. 
Mention is made of the "herringe broge'' as early as 1648, indicating that the 
fishery dates back almost to the very beginning of the town. At a town meeting 
held on March 8, 1725, a committee was chosen "to treat with the mill owners on 
the river, by Bates', to make a convenient passage for fish into Whitman's Pond, 
to pay not over five pounds." 

From that time the "alewives business" appears frequently in the town rec- 
ords. Officers were regularly chosen to take charge of the fisheries, preserve 
the fish, take and sell them during the proper seasons, the revenue thus derived 
being turned into the town treasury. In their report for the year 1916 the 
board of selectmen make the following statement relating to this subject: 

"In compliance with authority conferred by the town, acting under Article 
72 of the warrant for the last annual meeting, concerning the alewive fishery, 
the board communicated with George L. Wentworth, Esq., trustee of the John 
P. Lovell estate, and obtained the terms upon vVhich the fishery could be leased 
by the town. The terms for the lease for the year 1916 were $150, and sug- 
gested the sum of $2,500 for which the fishery right would be conveyed to the 
town, subject to the approval of the beneficiaries. 

"A lease was entered into for the year and Joseph H. Sherman was placed in 
charge of the fishery. . . . Mr. Sherman was instructed to make sure that 
a suitable number was taken to the pond and to give his personal care to the 
protection of the young fry during the progress to tide water. Twenty thousand 
fish were taken to the pond. The number sold was small. The cost of the 
fishery, including the lease, was $3/7-/i. The amount received from the sale of 
fish was $34.43. [Each family received a certain quantity without charge.] As 
the fish do not return until the third year, it will take at least three years to 
build up the fishery to its former proportions. We recommend that the right 
be purchased by the town." 

FINANCIAL HISTORY 

In the annual town report for 1916 is given a comparative table showing the 
property valuation and expenditures from 1890 to 1916. During that period the 
valuation increased from $6,441,845 to $12,981,333, and the expenditures from 
$130,696.86 to $325,822.49. The principal expenditures for the year 1916 were 
as follows : 

Schools $ 87,690.20 

New school house, Ward 3 15,886.21 

Highways 22,055.26 

Sidewalks 4<3^3-37 

Fire department 14.689.78 

Police department 8.193.50 




FOGG LIBRARY, SOUTH \\ KV.MolTH 




GREAT POND, LOOKING NORTH, SOUTH WEYMOUTH 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 299 

Health department 3,1 14.00 

Poor department 25,767.57 

Street lighting- 12,280.90 

Public libraries 5,877.94 

Salaries 10,590.47 

Interest 10.788.08 

Moth suppression 6,470.99 

Public parks 780.46 

Applied on public debt 22,500.00 

All other expenditures 74,048.73 

Total $325,822.49 

\n the amount expended by the poor department the sum of $4,719.54 repre- 
sented the receipts from the town farm. The auditors reported the town assets 
on December 31, 1916, as follows : 

Real estate, school houses, etc $ 418,150.00 

Waterworks 600,339.35 

Personal property 60,166.54 

Trust funds 15,900.00 

Sinking funds 127,309.58 

Uncollected dues 152,855.04 

Tax deed property 3,518.92 

Sidewalk appropriation 717.21 

Cash on hand 38431 -35 

Total $1,418,387.99 

On the other side of the ledger the town's liabilities were set forth as follows : 

Water bonds $221,000.00 

Notes payable 226,200.00 

E. B. Nevins school house appropriation 62,000.00 

Trust funds 15,900:00 

Miscellaneous 11,340.84 

Total $536,440.84 

These figures show a balance in favor of the town — the excess of assets over 
all liabilities — of $881,947.15. Weymouth bonds command a premium when- 
ever they are offered for sale, owing to the conservative management of public 
finances that has distinguished the town for years past. And with nearly three 
dollars in assets for every dollar of liabilities there is no good reason why her 
bonds should not continue to sell at a premium in the years to come. 

WEYMOUTH OF THE PRESENT 

Weymouth, the oldest incorporated town in Norfolk County, reported a 
population of 12,895 m 1910 and the state census of 191 5 gave the town a 



300 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

population of 13,969, a gain of 1,074. The town has four banks, three news- 
papers, two fine public libraries, churches of various denominations, seventeen 
school houses, well kept streets and sidewalks, and many pretty homes. The 
town exceeds all the other Norfolk County towns in the manufacture of boots 
and shoes. The Boston & Plymouth division of the New York, New Haven & 
Hartford railway system (via Cohasset) passes through the northern part of 
the town, with stations at Weymouth, East Weymouth and Weymouth Heights. 
The Boston & Plymouth division of the same system (via Whitman) passes 
through the southern part, with a station at South Weymouth. There are also 
several lines of electric railway, hence the town is well supplied with transporta- 
tion facilities. The town owns three public parks — Webb Park, Beals Park and 
Great Hill Park — which are being gradually improved and beautified, that future 
generations may have places for rest and recreation. 

TOWN OFFICERS 

At the beginning of the year 191 7 the principal town offices were filled as 
follows: Edward W. Hunt, Bradford Hawes, George L. Newton, Henry E. 
Hanley and Ralph P. Burrell, selectmen and overseers of the poor ; Lewis W. 
Callahan, Charles H. Clapp, John F. Dwyer, Frank H. Torrey and Leavitt W. 
Bates, assessors; John A. Raymond, clerk; John H. Stetson, treasurer; Charles 
B. Gushing, accountant ; Winslow M. Tirrell, collector of taxes ; Frank N. 
Blanchard, William H. Pratt and Winfield S. Wells, auditors ; Irving E. John- 
son, superintendent of streets ; George W. Perry, George E. Bicknell, Frank H. 
Torrey, Edward W. Hunt and John H. Stetson, water commissioners ; Walter 
W. Pratt, chief of the fire department; Arthur H. Pratt, chief of police; Louis 
A. Cook, J. Herbert Walsh and Nathan Q. Cushing, park commissioners; Arthur 
H. Alden-, Prince H. Tirrell, Elmer E. Leonard, Frederick D. Nichols, Theron 
L. Tirrell and Sarah S. Howe, school committee ; Dr. George E. Emerson, Dr. 
Fred L. Doucett and John S. Williams, board of health ; W. F. Hall, George B. 
Bayley, Elbert Ford, Arthur H. Pratt, Charles W. Baker, Edward F. Butler, 
George W. Nash, Thomas Fitzgerald, Charles W. Barrows and George W. 
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CHAPTER XXXVI 
THE TOWN OF WRENTHAM 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION HISTORICAL THE PLANTATION OF WOLLOMONOPOAG IN- 
CORPORATION OF WRENTHAM — ORGANIZING THE TOWN — WRENTHAM VACATED 

PERMANENT SETTLEMENT SOME FIRST THINGS THE TOWN DIVIDED WATER- 
WORKS — FIRE DEPARTMENT — TOWN HALL — SOLDIERS' MONUMENT — MODERN 
WRENTHAM — TOWN OFFICERS, ICH/. 

The Town of Wrentham is situated in the southwestern part of Norfolk 
County. On the north it is bounded by Franklin and Norfolk ; on the east by 
Foxboro ; on the south by Plainville and the State of Rhode Island ; and on the 
west by the towns of Franklin and Bellingham. The surface is diversified. 
Lake Archer and Lake Pearl in the central part are two beautiful little bodies 
of water, frequented by large numbers of pleasure seekers, and Marsh Pond is 
on the line between Wrentham and Norfolk. There are a few small streams in 
the town, but no large ones. 

HISTORICAL 

Wrentham was included in the grant of 1636 to the Dedham proprietors, 
which grant embraced "all the land on the southerly and easterly side of the 
Charles River not formerly granted to any town or particular persons." About 
1647 J onn D wight and Francis dickering gave notice of indications of a mine 
near certain ponds, about thirteen miles from the settlement at Dedham. It is 
believed that the ponds referred to were within .the limits of the present Town 
of Wrentham. This report of Dwight and dickering is probably the first men- 
tion of this part of Norfolk County. Two years later, owing to a scarcity of 
grass in Dedham, the inhabitants of that settlement went to the meadows called 
by the Indians "Wollomonopoag" to obtain a supply of hay for their cattle. 
Wollomonopoag was the Indian name for what is now Wrentham. 

The oldest record relating to a settlement in this part of Norfolk County is 
dated at Dedham, June 22, 1660, to wit : "At a meeting of the Select men there 
Lieut. Fisher, Sergt. Fuller, Richard Wheeler, Ensign Fisher, are Deputed to 
view the lands both Upland and Meddow near about the Ponds by George 
Indian's Wigwam & Make report of what they find to the Select men in the first 
Opportunity they can take." 

This order of the selectmen and the appointment of the committee was in 
accordance with a desire expressed by the inhabitants "formerly in a Lecture 
day." The following December the selectmen reported that they had sent men 
to view the place, and that upon the report of the men thus deputed, which was 

301 



302 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

encouraging, two men had been deputed by the selectmen "to endeavor to com- 
pound with such Indians as have a true Right there." The selectmen further 
expressed themselves in favor of establishing a plantation there, and recom- 
mended the appointment of a committee "to Explore the place further & to 
Consider what measures are propper in the Premises & propose them to the 
Town in some Publick Meeting to be Considered & Resolved as the Case -may 
require." 

On March 27, 1661, at a general town meeting, the question was brought up 
as to whether there should be a plantation established at Wollomonopoag and a 
majority voted in the affirmative. The meeting also voted that the Indian title 
to the lands at the place intended for the new plantation should be extinguished 
by purchase, and a committee was appointed "to Settle and Determine such 
things as shall be mentioned need full for ye Plantation before named. First 
they shall Determine when men Present them selves for Entertainment there who 
are meet to be Accepted Second they shall proportion to each man his part of 
ye Six Hundred acres Third they shall Order the settling of ye Plantation in 
reference to Situation High wayes convenient Place for a Meeting House a lot 
or lotts for Church Officers with such other things Necessary as may hereafter 
be Proposed." 

Later in the year the boundaries of the plantation were established at a 
general town meeting as follows : "It is ordered that ye bounds of the Planta- 
tion at Wollomonopoag shall be upon Stop River towards the East Beginning at 
Medfield bounds and so all along as the river lies up Stream until it comes about 
half a mile above the Falls in that river near about where ye Path to that Place 
at present lies & from thence Southward to Dorchester Line & the West Bounds 
shall be at or about the end of five miles from one of the Ponds in Wollomono- 
poage to be a line running Paralel with the line of at ye east end of ye Planta- 
tion Always provided that it Extend not to any lands but such as are at present 
our owne. And the South Bounds shall be Dorchester Line & ye North Bounds 
shall be Medfield bounds in Part and Charles River in Part." 

Richard Ellis and Timothy Dwight were appointed agents to negotiate a 
purchase of the land from the Indians and in 1662 they reported that they made 
a treaty with Philip, sagamore of the Wampanoag tribe, for a tract of land six 
miles square at Wollomonopoag, for which they had obtained a deed. (See 
chapter on Indian History for a further account of this transaction.) 

THE PLANTATION OF WOLLOMONOPOAG 

Pursuant to the action taken at the meeting of March 27, 1661, Anthony Fisher, 
Isaac Bullard, Robert Ware and Richard Ellis were appointed a committee to 
settle and determine "such things as shall be mentioned needful for ye Plantation," 
etc. At a meeting on January 12, 1662, they reported that ten men had been 
selected, or accepted, by them to go to Wollomonopoag, but that this number was 
not sufficient to "goe on with ye Plantation." The Town of Dedham evidently did 
not offer the expected encouragement to "goe on," and the first attempt at settle- 
ment failed. On March 2, 1663, the proprietors resolved by a unanimous vote 
that they "could not advise parties to proceed to make it a Plantation all things 
considered as they are now Circumstanced." 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 303 

Three weeks later another meeting of the proprietors was held, at which it was 
agreed that those who had already made improvements there "might take the lotts 
they had subdued and Improved and not draw lotts with the rest of ye proprie- 
tors." The persons who were thus allowed to choose were Anthony Fisher, Jr., 
Job Farrington, Richard Ellis, Robert Ware, Joshua Kent, Samuel Parker, James 
Thorpe, Samuel Fisher and Isaac Bullard. These men were the first to break- 
land and begin a settlement within the limits of the six hundred acres alloted for 
the Wollomonopoag plantation, and were therefore the first settlers in Wrentham. 
Among those who drew lots on March 2$, 1663, were James Draper, Nathaniel 
Whiting and Ralph Freeman. Later in the year the selectmen of Dedham con- 
firmed a highway from that town to the Wollomonopoag plantation, "at the request 
of ye persons who have drawn lotts there, ye highway to be at ye east end of 
sayed lotts." 

The settlement was not a success. Says Samuel Warner : "Although an 
attempt to settle a colony at Wollomonopoag had failed in 1663. yet the idea was 
not absolutely abandoned. Proof of this is seen in the transactions had in the 
interim between that date and 1669. We instance the drawing of lots, the laying 
out of a highway, surveying of the meadows, the settling of lines of lots, the 
purchasing of proprietors' rights, and the second treaty with King Philip." 

The second treaty with King Philip was concluded in the fall of 1669, and in 
December of that year the proprietors of Wollomonopoag, now independent of the 
Dedham proprietors, met at the house of Joshua Fisher (in Dedham) "to adopt 
some Rules as to the ordering & due management of ye said place for the further- 
ing and settling a Plantation there." This was their first meeting, distinct from 
the proprietors of Dedham. Among the rules they -adopted were the following: 

"1st — All rates &c for defraying public charges hereunder written Shall be and 
remayne in full Force to all ends intents & Purposes to all Proprietors there untill 
the intended Plantation become a Town. 

''2d — Every Proprietor shall annualy pay towards the Maintenance of a Min- 
ister there is 6d for each cow comon right besides what he shall be Assessed upon 
improved land. 

"3d — That the Libertie to call or invite a Minister to exercise to the People 
there is left to the Inhabitants there & Such of ye principal Proprietors as may be 
advised without Difficulty provided it be by ye Allowance & Consent of ye Rev. 
Mr. Allin of Dedham & ye Ruling Elder of ye Church there & Elea Lusher. 

"4th — That a Convenient meeting house shall be built to which end 2s per cow 
common shall be paid whereof Mr Theo Deane Capt Willm Hudson & Mr Job 
Yiale promise to pay accordingly in money which is accepted John Thurston, 
Robert Ware & Sergt Fuller are appointed a Committee for ye ordering ye 
building & Finishing that Meeting house in convenient time." 

The meeting house was not finished for several years, but on December 27. 
1669, Rev. Samuel Man was invited to become the minister at the plantation. 
The letter of invitation was signed by thirty-nine persons. 

INCORPORATION OF WRENTHAM 

In October, 1673, the inhabitants, now grown to a considerable number, pre- 
pared the following petition, which was in due time presented to the General 
Court : 



304 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

"The petition of ye Inhabitants of Wollomonopoage humbly sheweth that 
whereas it hath pleased God by His especial Providence to sett the place of habi- 
tation of divers of us in a place within the bounds of Dedham where some of us 
have lived Severall years conflicting with ye Difficultyes of a Wilderness state & 
being a long time without any to Dispense the word of God to us although at last 
it hath pleased God to send the Gospel amongst us dispensed by that faithful 
servant of his, Mr Samuel Man ; but not having power to assess or gather what 
have been engaged by reason divers live not Within the limits of the Town & the 
Constables of Dedham are not willing to gather what has been engaged neyther 
is that Engaged by Town power so the pay is not attayned but that work is like to 
fail & We perish for lack of Knoledge unless it please God to move your hearts 
who are the Fathers of the country to take care for us & not for us only but for 
the Interest of God here now being helpless and hopeless doe yet venture to 
spread our complaint before your Honours desiring you would put forth your 
power to Promote the ordinances of God here. 

"That which we desire & humbly present to your pious consideration is that 
there may be a Committee appoynted & Impowered by this Hon Court to settle 
some way for the maintenance of the Ministrie which we doubt not but most of 
ye proprietors in Dedham & Elsewhere will readily grant yet some there are that 
have rights here seem only to be willing that we should labor under the Straights 
of a new Plantation so as to bring their land to a great Price which no other can 
regulate (that we understand) but yourselves. Therefore we fly to your wisdom 
& justice for help which no other under God can do The proprietors also having 
engaged but for so long as we remain under the power of Dedham & Dedham 
now advising us to be of our selves Declaring that they cannot act for us as is 
Necessary in divers cases they living so remote & if it shall please God so far to 
move you to help us in this distressed State we humbly further crave to be excused 
from paying any County rates for 7 or 8 years we being very Few and poor & far 
into the country & not considerable to the County which will oblige us to serve 
your Honours. We have herewith sent the Coppies of what the Proprietors did 
engage (which have caused us your Petitioners to Venture upon these Difricul- 
tyes expecting more would have come to us) which we desire may be ratifyed till 
they send Inhabitants suitable or what other way God may direct your wisdom 
to Determine which shall ever Oblige your poor supplyants to pray &c." 

The selectmen of Dedham offered no objection to the plantation being incor- 
porated as a separate town, but ventured the suggestion that "if the Court see meet 
to grant them town power that it may be called Wrentham." Upon the 15th day 
of October, 1673, trie act incorporating the Town of W r rentham became a law. 
The name is taken from Wrentham in England, a small parish in the County of 
Suffolk, from which came John Thurston, Thomas Paine and a number of 
people who accompanied Rev. Mr. Phillips (or Philip) when he came to Ded- 
ham in 1638. He afterward returned to England and resumed his pastoral 
duties in his old parish. 

ORGANIZING THE TOWN 

John Thurston, Daniel Fisher, William Park and Hopestill Foster were ap- 
pointed a committee by the General Court "for ordering the affairs of the Town 




BELEN KELLER'S RESIDKN'l K. WRKXTHA.M 




VIEW OF THE SQUARE. WRKXTHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 305 

called Wrentham." This committee met for the first time on December 4, 1673, 
and adopted the following regulations : 

"1st. Thomas Thurston to have ye Town Book and make record of such 
orders as have passed respecting such Plantation &c. 

"2d. Property holders there shall pay is 6d for every cow common for sup- 
port of ye Minister according to a previous vote. 

"3d. £50 to be Assessed upon ye proprietors towards building him a House 
according to an act past by them ye 31 June '72. 

"4th. All former committees to continue the work committed to them Here- 
tofore as to laying out high wayes &c. 

"5th. That the order in Dedham Town Book referring to ye admitting of 
Inhabitants made June 1 '66 be transcribed in this Town Book to be an order for 
ye Town of Wrentham as to all intents & purposes therein Contayned. 

"Per order of Gen Court." 

(Signed by all the committee.) 

The order referred to in the last paragraph related to "ye entertainment of 
persons privately," and provided "That no inhabitant of ye Towne or tenant of 
any house lands &c shall after due Publication hereof grant sell alienate lease 
assigne sett or to farme lett any house lands or parcels of land whatsoever within 
sayed Towne to any persons not formerly dwelling within our Towne nor shall 
hire any out of ye town person for a servant by the years or any apprentice for 
more than two months without leave of ye committee or select men without 
Securitie for ye Towne's indemnitie as sayed Committee or Select men shall 
accept. Notice shall be given of all such Contracts made or intended to be made 
to some one of ye Committee or Select men & if not forbidden within a month 
then the partie may proceed therein but if being forbidden he shall notwithstand- 
ing proceed to contract or entertain contrary to this Order or shall fail to give 
notice as above provided he shall for every month so continueing forfeit to the 
use of ye Towne twenty shillings to be levied upon his good by ye Constable by 
warrant from the Com'ttee or Select men or be recoverable by action at Law." 

Such an order seems peculiar in these days, but the early settlers of Massa- 
chusetts were careful to protect themselves from the presence of undesirable 
citizens or sojourners, and regulations of this nature were adopted by practically 
every town in the colony. 

WRENTHAM VACATED 

King Philip inaugurated his war upon the white settlements by his attack upon 
Swanzey in June, 1675. At that time the inhabitants of Wrentham were few in 
number and occupied a somewhat isolated position. Furthermore their settle- 
ment lay directly in the trail from Mount Hope, where Philip had his headquarters, 
to Medfield and was in constant danger. In an old record of the town is found 
the following entry: "March ye 30, 1676, ye Inhabitants ware drawn of by rason 
of ye Endian worre." After they were gone the savages came' into the town and 
burned all the deserted dwellings but two, which, according to tradition, they 

spared because they believed them to be infected with the smallpox. 
Vol. 1—20 



306 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

PERMANENT SETTLEMENT 

In January, 1677, a meeting of the proprietors and those who were formerly 
inhabitants of Wrentham was held and the latter were asked if "they would go 
on to rebuild and inhabitt Wrentham.'' To this they replied with the following 
written obligation : 

"We whose names are hereunto subscribed haveing formerly had our residence 
in Wrentham but by those sad and sollame dispensations of Gods Providence were 
removed yet desire a worke for the honour of God & the good and Comfort of 
our selves & ours might be again ingaged in and promotted att that Place. There- 
fore our purpose is to returne thither God willing But knowing our owne inability 
for so Great & Waytie a worke both in respectt of our insufficiency for the carry- 
ing on of new Plantation worke & the dainger that may yet be renewed upon us by 
ye heathins breaking out on us we thinke it not saffe for us to returne alone except 
other of ye proprietors joyne to go up along with us or sende Inhabitants to ingage 
in that worke with us. Subscribed by Elizear Metcalf Saml Fisher Daniell Haws 
William Macknah Daniel Wight Elizear Gay Samuell Man Cornelius Fisher 
Joseph Kingsbury Robert Ware John Aldis John Payne Benjn Rocket Nath Ware 
'John Ware Michell Wilson Samuel Sheeres." 

The proprietors gave a favorable answer to this appeal for a larger number ot 
inhabitants and agreed to sell their interests to actual settlers in good faith. The 
subscribers to the above document then returned to their homes, rebuilt their 
houses, and in a short time were "joyned by a goodly number." Wrentham was 
now permanently settled. 

SOME FIRST THINGS 

The first white child born in the town was Mehitable, daughter of Samuel and 
Mary Sheers, who was born on February 1, 1668. 

The first mill was authorized by the town in January, 1672, when it was 
ordered that a grant for "a corn mille be made upon that stream that comes out of 
ye ponde & runns into Charles River in the neerest convenient place to ye lower 
end of ye ponde in Wollomonopoage & made fitte for work & doe grinde corn as 
such a mille ought to doe before the first daye of Maye which shall be Anno 1673. 
& be soe kept & attended that ye Inhabitants there be supplyed with good meale 
from time to time of the corn they shall bring to mille." 

A committee entered into a contract with Robert Crossman to build the mill, 
but before he had completed it King Philip's war came on, so that the work was 
delayed. In 1680 it was voted that if he did not speedily put his mill in repair the 
inhabitants "will see out for the procuring of another mill." In 1685 the grant 
formerly made to Crossman was conferred upon John Whiting. 

The first meeting house was ordered in March, 1681, but it was not completed 
for more than ten years after that date. 

The first school was taught the winter of 1701. The records show that "con- 
sidering the scarceness of money &c it is proposed that for this winter time ye 
Select men & such others as will joyne in yt worke with them doe by them selves 
or som others in their behalfe take their turns by ye week to keepe a school to 
teach children & youth to read English & wright & cypher gratis & in hope that 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 307 

som of Our neighbors will joyn with us in yt worke we Intend God willing to begin 
next Monday." This record is dated December 19, 1701, and it is to be hoped 
that those who "joyned" in the work were better spellers than the clerk who made 
the above entry. 

The first school house "twenty foot long and sixteen foot broad," was built in 
1702. 

The first bank was started in 1832 by Philo Sanford, Robert Blake and others. 

THE TOWN DIVIDED 

When Wrentham was incorporated on October 15, 1673, it embraced all the 
present town of that name, the towns of Franklin and Plainville, and the greater 
portions of Foxboro and Norfolk. Franklin was cut off on March 2, 1778; Fox- 
boro, on the 10th of June the same year; Norfolk, February 23, 1870; and Plain- 
ville, April 4, 1905, thus reducing Wrentham to its present dimensions. 

WATERWORKS 

On February 16, 1904, the governor of Massachusetts approved an act of the 
Legislature authorizing the Town of Wrentham to provide a supply of water for 
the inhabitants by driven, artesian or other wells, or to ''take by purchase or other- 
wise and hold the water of any pond, stream or spring, or artesian or driven well 
within the limits of said town," etc., and to borrow not exceeding $125,000, to be 
repaid in annual payments, beginning five years after the first issue of bonds, 
notes or scrip, the act to become effective when accepted by a vote of two-thirds 
of the legal voters at a meeting called for that purpose within three years, not more 
than two such meetings to be called in any one year. 

The three years expired before the terms of the act had been accepted by the 
required vote, and on April 13, 1907, an act was passed extending the time for 
such acceptance to February 16, 1908. Not long after the passage of this act a 
meeting was called and the necessary two-thirds vote was obtained. A loan was 
effected and work was commenced upon the plant. The board of water commis- 
sioners made their first annual report in 1908. 

According to the report of the commissioners in 1916, there were then a little 
over eleven miles of mains in use; total number of connections, 315; number of 
gallons of water pumped during the year, 38,486,250; receipts for the year, 
$5,991.32; operating expenses, $2,185.78; bonds outstanding on January 1, 1917, 
$50,700. Extensions and new connections have been made every year since the 
works were established, and with receipts more than double the operating expenses 
it is evident that Wrentham will soon own its water plant unencumbered by debt 
and its benefits will be extended to all parts of the town. The board of commis- 
sioners at the beginning of the year 191 7 was composed of Edward P. Bennett. 
Murray Winter and Dr. J. F. Jenckes. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT 

At the close of the year 1916 the board of fire engineers was made up of Rob- 
ert A. Wood, George P. Francis, Murray Winter and George H. E. Mayshaw. 



308 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

The last named was also forest fire warden. In their annual report for the year 
they say: "The present equipment consists of one auto truck, one hose wagon, 
one combination chemical wagon, one hose reel, one hand tub, 1,800 feet of hose 
and one combination chemical wagon at Sheldonville." 

The Pioneer Engine Company, located at Wrentham Village, numbers twenty- 
five men, and the company at Sheldonville, in the western part of the town, ten 
men. The cost of the department for the year was $1,422.76. 

TOWN HALL 

Samuel Warner, writing of Wrentham in 1883, says: "Some years since the 
town erected a large and convenient building in Wrentham Village for the ac- 
commodation of the high school and a grammar and primary school. It was also 
provided with a spacious and convenient hall for the transaction of its public 
business, and the town bade adieu to the vestry of the meeting house in which. 
and its predecessors, it had held its town meetings for more than one hundred 
and fifty years." 

This building stands in a convenient location, facing the town common, and 
is well adapted to the wants of the town. It was completed about 1874 and is 
still in good condition. 

soldiers' monument 

On the common, diagonally across the street from the town hall, stands a 
granite monument surmounted by the figure of an infantry soldier "at rest." 
On the front of the pedestal is the inscription : "In memory of the brave men 
of the army and navy who answered their country's call," and on the die below 
the dates "1861-1865." On the reverse side of the pedestal is the simple state- 
ment: "Erected by the Monument Association, 1915." 

The erection of the monument is due to the efforts of an association of 
Wrentham women, of which Mrs. Maria MacCorrison was president; Mrs. Cora 
Pratt, vice president; Mrs. Gertrude B. Bean, secretary; Mrs. Catherine Morse, 
treasurer. Through the efforts of these patriotic women and their associates, 
the funds were raised to pay for the monument, which was dedicated on May 
22, 191 5. Charles Moore, commander of George H. Maintien Post No. 133, 
Grand Army of the Republic, presided at the dedication; music was furnished 
by the Norwood Band ; the dedicatory address was delivered by Gen. Alfred S. 
Roe ; and the monument was unveiled by Misses Edith Hittenger and Dorothy 
M. Pierce. George P. Willard, chairman of the board of selectmen, accepted 
the monument on behalf of the town in a few well chosen remarks. Addresses 
were also delivered by Gen. Elisha N. Rhodes, past senior vice commander-in- 
chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, and Charles E. Reed, commander of 
the Sons of Veterans. Mrs. MacCorrison, president of the Monument Associa- 
tion, presented the monument to the town. 

MODERN WRENTHAM 

Two hundred and forty years have passed since the first inhabitants of the 
Town of Wrentham were forced to give up their homes to the torch of the 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 309 

savage. Several volumes would be necessary to trace all the events that have 
happened in connection with the town history during these two hundred and 
forty years. Suffice it to say that the people of Wrentham no longer live in fear 
of the scalping-knife and tomahawk of the painted Indian. The war-whoop has 
given way to the hum of civilized industry; the Indian trail has broadened into 
the improved highway ; the scream of the factory or locomotive whistle tells the 
story of progress and development. Wrentham has a national bank, a number 
of manufacturing establishments, the streets are lighted by electricity, mercantile 
houses carry stocks of all lines of goods likely to be demanded by the citizens, 
Catholic, Baptist, Congregational, Universalist and Episcopal churches afford 
ample opportunities for the worship of God, and four public school buildings 
bear witness to the fact that the people believe in educating their children. In 
1910 the population numbered 1.743, and in 1915 it had increased to 2,414, a 
gain of 671 in five years. According to the report of the board of assessors, the 
valuation of property in 1916 was $1,651,333. 

TOWN OFFICERS, I917 

Following is a list of the principal town officials at the beginning of the year 
1917: George P. Willard, Harrison V. Hall and George S. Sheldon, selectmen 
and overseers of the poor; David T. Stone, clerk; James E. Carpenter, treasurer; 
Wesley G. Dibble, tax collector ; Willard H. Bennett, George S. Sheldon and 
Albertus J. Whiting, assessors ; Charles L. Eldridge and William A. Morse, high- 
way surveyors ; Ernest A. Hall, Edwin F. Wood and Oliver J. Goodspeed, school 
committee; Clarence A. Raymond, auditor; Fred L. Blatchford, Daniel S. Far- 
rington and Hiram A. Cowell, park commissioners ; Edgar I. Blake, William 
A. Morse, George H. E. Mayshaw, Frank E. Snow and Joseph P. Quirk, 
constables. 



CHAPTER XXXVII 
THE REVOLUTION 

NORFOLK COUNTY NOT IN EXISTENCE AT THE TIME OF THE WAR — EARLY CONDI- 
TIONS IN THE COLONIES LOYALTY OF THE COLONISTS THE STAMP ACT THE 

FILLAR OF LIBERTY THE BOSTON TEA PARTY THE BOSTON PORT BILL THE 

SUFFOLK RESOLVES — WORK OF THE TOWNS — BELLINGHAM — BRAINTREE — 

BROOKLINE COHASSET DEDHAM MEDFIELD MEDWAY MILTON 

NEEDHAM STOUGHTON WALPOLE WEYMOUTH WRENTHAM. 

Norfolk County, as such, did not come into existence until nearly ten years 
after the close of the Revolution. At the beginning of that war, the territory 
now comprising the county was all included in the County of Suffolk. The 
organized towns then within the limits of that territory, and which were after- 
ward taken to form Norfolk County, were as follows : Bellingham, Braintree, 
Brookline, Cohasset, Dedham, Dorchester, Medfield, Medway, Milton, Need- 
ham, Roxbury, Stoughton, Walpole, Weymouth and Wrentham. In 1778, while 
the war was in progress, the towns of Franklin and Foxboro were incorporated, 
and Sharon was established in February, 1783, a little more than six months 
before the final treaty of peace. 

EARLY CONDITIONS IN THE COLONIES 

In the very beginning of English settlement in America, it was the radical 
element that came across the sea to escape the persecutions of the conservatives — 
that is, of those who were satisfied with conditions in the mother country. Once 
here, these radicals sought charters which would give them control of their local 
affairs. The British Government, "to keep them quiet," granted such charters 
to several of the colonies. This was a mistake if the government expected or 
intended to retain permanent control over the colonists. In establishing their 
local governments, the town meeting became a prominent feature. In these town 
meetings, all voters stood upon a perfect equality, each one being at liberty to 
speak his sentiments fully and freely upon any question affecting the town's 
welfare. Here v the measures of local government came up for consideration and 
by the expressed will of the majority were enacted into laws. Here were chosen 
the representatives to the General Court, who received from their constituents 
detailed instructions as to the course to be pursued and were held to a strict 
accountability. The members of the General Court were themselves of the 
same class of men who so boldly and unhesitatingly expressed their opinions in 
the town meeting. They knew the temper of their constituents, with whom 
they must associate, while the royal government was far away across the 

310 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 311 

Atlantic. They realized, too, that any evasion, any shirking of responsibility, 
would bring them into disfavor with their neighbors. As a rule, however, the 
representatives in the General Court were actuated by the same spirit as their 
fellow townsmen who elected them, and were governed by that spirit in the 
discharge of their official duties. 

Thomas Jefferson, writing to Samuel Kercheval under date of July 12, 1816, 
took occasion to express his opinion of the town meeting as follows : "Those 
wards, called townships in New England, are the vital principle of their govern- 
ments, and have proved themselves the wisest invention ever devised by the wit 
of man for the perfect exercise of self government and for its preservation." 

And a more recent writer, James Bryce, in his American Commonwealth, 
says: "Of the three of four types or systems of local government which I have 
described, that of the town or township with its popular primary assembly is 
admittedly the best. It is the cheapest and the most efficient ; it is the most 
educative to the citizens who bear a part in it. The town meeting has been not 
only the source, but the school of democracy." 

What wonder, then, that under a system of local government of this nature, 
where free speech was a fundamental, and where "every vote counted one," a 
spirit of independence should develop that would resist oppression to the last ? 

LOYALTY OF THE COLONISTS 

Notwithstanding the liberality of their charters, the English colonists in 
America remained loyal to the crown for more than a century and a half before 
they openly rebelled against the policies of the home government. Even when 
Sir Edmund Andros arrived in December, 1686, with a commission from King 
James for the government of the New England colonies (except Connecticut) 
and began to overturn the established order of things, the people remained loyal, 
though they entered a vigorous protest against the proceedings of the new 
governor. Previous to his coming the governor seldom interfered with the man- 
agement of local matters; now, everything was made subject to the will of the 
executive, who possessed a power under his commission that was almost absolute. 
Town meetings except for the election of town officers were abolished. The 
vote by ballot was rejected. None could leave the country without a special per- 
mit. Heavy taxes were levied, which the people generally refused to pay. Writs 
of habeas corpus were withheld and the laws of England denied to the citizens 
of the colonies. Oaths were administered upon the Bible, which caused a serious 
objection on the part of the Puritans. Personal liberty and established customs 
were disregarded. Indian deeds to the land were pronounced worthless, and 
old grants must be renewed at high rate of fees ; grants made under the charter 
being declared void by its forfeiture. All commons and lands reserved for the 
common people were given to favorites. Finally a petition to the king was pre- 
pared and Increase Mather was on his way to England with it, when the rebellion 
of 1688 broke the power of James and with his power went that of his rulers in 
the colonies. 

The tyrannical methods of Governor Andros marked the beginning of a series 
of important events that had a significant bearing upon the political fortunes of 
New England. But after his administration came to its untimely end, the people 



312 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

returned to their allegiance. In April, 1690, at the time of King William's war, 
the expedition of Sir William Phipps against Port Royal was fitted out in Massa- 
chusetts. Later in the same year an expedition was planned against Quebec, 
in which Sir William Phipps was to command the fleet and Governor Winthrop 
lead the land forces, but it failed owing to the lateness of the season. In Queen 
Anne's war (1702-1713), in King George's war (1744-1748), and in the French 
and Indian war (1756-1763), the colonists fought on the side of England. Says 
Barber: "The final reduction of Canada in 1760 caused great and universal re- 
joicing in the colonies and public thanksgivings were appointed." 

THE STAMP ACT 

George III began his reign on October 25, 1760. He has been described as 
"narrow-minded, self-willed, jealous of his royal prerogatives, envious of others' 
greatness and resentful of all difference from his wishes on any public measure 
as a personal offense to the King." 

After the close of the French and Indian war, the British Parliament, urged 
on by the new king, formed a plan for raising a revenue by taxing the colonies. 
The first act of this nature was passed and received the royal assent on March 
22, 1765. It was known as the "Stamp Act," for the reason that it laid a duty 
upon all paper, vellum or parchment used in America, and provided that all 
deeds, contracts, etc., written upon unstamped paper should be null and void. 
Immediately the storm broke. The Virginia Assembly, then in session, declared 
its opposition in a series of spirited resolutions; the Sons of Liberty, an organiza- 
tion to resist the act, sprang into existence ; in Boston some of the houses of 
those who upheld the measure were demolished by an indignant populace; mer- 
chants banded themselves together in a pledge to import no more goods from 
England until the obnoxious law was repealed, and in various other ways the 
opposition to the act was made manifest. 

It remained for Massachusetts to crystallize the general discontent into some- 
thing like coherent form. That colony sent out a call to the other colonists to 
send delegates to a convention in New York in October, to determine upon a 
policy to be followed by all the English colonies affected by the Stamp Act. 
At the appointed time delegates from nine colonies met and declared in language 
that could not be misconstrued that the Stamp Act was an infringement upon 
the rights of freemen. The convention adopted a "declaration of rights and 
grievances," prepared a petition to the king and a memorial to each house of 
Parliament asking for the immediate repeal of the act. Through the influence 
of William Pitt and other friends of the colonists, the act was repealed on 
March 18, 1766, four days less than one year from the time of its enactment. 

THE PILLAR OF LIBERTY 

On the corner of the Green, at the junction of Court and High streets in the 
Town of Dedham, is a square block of granite about four feet in height, which 
was once the 'pedestal of the "Pillar of Liberty," the history of which is told 
by the inscriptions it bears. On the east side of the stone, next to Court street, 
is a bronze tablet bearing the legend: "This stone was first placed near this 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 315 

spot July 22, 1766. It supported a wooden column surmounted by a bust of 
William Pitt. Both column and bust disappeared about the close of the last 
century. The stone was removed from the opposite corner in 1886." 

The opposite corner referred to was the corner of the courthouse lot, where 
the stone was placed in 1828 by the citizens of the town, being then taken from 
the corner of the Common, near the place where it stands today. Facing High 
street is the following inscription carved in the stone, some of the letters blurred 
by time : "The Pillar of Liberty to the honor of William Pitt, Esqr., and others, 
Patriots, who saved America from impending slavery and confirmed our most 
loyal affection to King George III by procuring a repeal of the Stamp Act, 18th 
March, 1766. 

"Erected here July 22, 1766, by Dr. Nathaniel Ames (2nd) Col. Ebenezer 
Battle, Major Abijah Draper and other patriots friendly to the rights of the 
Colonies at that day. 

"Replaced by the Citizens, July 4, 1828." 

On the west side of the stone is the inscription : "The Pillar of Liberty 
erected by the Sons of Liberty in this vicinity. Laus Deo Regii et Immunitat m 
autoribusq maxime Patronus Pitt qui Rempub. rursum evulsit faucibus Orei." 

The men who erected this monument in the first place, like the wooden column 
and bust of Pitt, have long since passed from the stage of action. But for more 
than a century and a half the old stone has stood as an eloquent testimony of the 
lofty sentiments that animated the patriots of 1766 in so boldly resisting the first 
attempt at oppression on the part of the British crown. 

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

As a means of raising revenue, the Stamp Act was a failure, hardly enough 
being realized to cover the expenses of the attempts at its enforcement. In 
repealing it the British ministry still insisted upon the right to tax the colonies, 
and in 1767 the Parliament passed an act laying duties upon glass, painters' 
colors, paper and tea. The duties were purposely made light, in the hope that 
the colonists would pay them without protest, but the Stamp Act had concen- 
trated opposition to the principle of "taxation without representation," and no 
duty, however small, was likely to be paid willingly. 

Again the merchants of Massachusetts entered into a compact to import no 
goods upon which duties were charged. A circular letter was sent to the other 
colonies, urging similar action, and in nearly every instance it met with friendly 
support. Colonial assemblies joined in the opposition and sent petitions and 
remonstrances to the king and to Parliament, which resulted in all the duties 
being abolished except the tax of three pence a pound on tea. In many of the 
towns the citizens pledged themselves to use no imported tea until the hated tax 
was removed. Thus matters stood until December, 1773. Early in that month 
three vessels laden with tea arrived at Boston. The commanders of these ships 
were summoned before the citizens' committee, composed of Samuel Adams, 
Jonathan Williams, John Rowe, William Phillips, John Hancock and John Pitts, 
and warned not to land any of the tea, but to take their vessels to Griffin's wharf 
and there await further orders. On the afternoon of the 16th a meeting was 
held in Faneuil Hall, attended by about two thousand men from all parts of the 



314 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

country about Boston, to determine what course should be pursued relative to 
sending the tea back to England. A few minutes before six o'clock the captain 
of one of the vessels appeared in the hall and announced that the governor would 
not grant a permit for him to take his ship back to England until it was regu- 
larly cleared. What followed this announcement is thus told in Snow's History 
of Boston : 

"A violent commotion immediately ensued. A person who was in the gallery, 
disguised after the manner of the Indians, shouted at this juncture the cry of 
war; it was answered by about thirty persons, disguised in like manner, at the 
door. The meeting was dissolved in the twinkling of an eye. The multitude 
rushed to Griffin's wharf. The disguised Indians went on board the ships laden 
with the tea. In less than two hours 240 chests and 100 half chests were staved 
and emptied in to the dock. The affair was conducted without any tumult ; no 
damage was done to the vessels or to any other effects whatever. This was exe- 
cuted in the presence of several ships of war lying in the harbor, and almost under 
the guns of the castle, where there was a large body of troops at the command of 
the commissioners. We are left to conjecture for the reasons why no opposition 
was made to this bold adventure. The names of the men who dared to engage in 
it have never been made public." 

This affair has become known in history as the "Boston Tea Party." Although, 
as Snow says, the names of the disguised patriots were never made public, it is 
known that James Stoddard of Cohasset, a son of Gen. Joseph Palmer of Brain- 
tree, and probably others from what is now Norfolk County were among those 
who emptied the tea into the harbor. "They had the honor of a part in the act 
which brought the king and Parliament to a decision that America must be sub- 
dued by force of arms," and four regiments of British soldiers were ordered to 
Boston. 

THE BOSTON PORT BILL 

To punish the citizens of Boston for their temerity in destroying the tea, or 
for their failure to prevent its destruction, Parliament in March, 1774, passed the 
act known as the "Boston Port Bill," which prohibited all maritime intercourse 
with that town and removed the custom house and all the public offices to Salem. 
While the act had the effect of preventing vessels from foreign ports from enter- 
ing the harbor, it could not keep the small schooners, shallops, fishing smacks, 
etc., from coming in, and these were kept busy bringing supplies from all the coast 
towns of New England, the people of which cheerfully sent large donations to the 
Boston people. 

Three other obnoxious measures were passed about this time: 1. The "Mas- 
sachusetts Bill." which changed the charter of the colony, taking the government 
from the people and giving it to the king's agents ; 2. The "Transportation Bill," 
which provided that any citizen of the colonies who might commit murder in re- 
sisting the laws should be sent to England for trial ; 3. The "Quebec Act," an- 
nexing all the territory north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi rivers to 
Canada. The effect of these acts was to cement the people of the colonies more 
closely together in their determination to resist the encroachments of the crown. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 315 

The slogan "No taxation without representation," was now changed to "No legis- 
lation without representation." 

THE SUFFOLK RESOLVES 

On May 13, 1774, Thomas Gage arrived in Boston, accompanied by more 
troops and armed with a commission as Captain-General and Governor, to enforce 
the laws above mentioned. Events now moved rapidly. Not long after General 
Gage's arrival, invitations were secretly sent to all the towns in Suffolk County to 
choose delegates to a meeting to consider the state of the colonies and decide upon 
some concerted plan of action. The first meeting of these delegates was held at 
Doty's Tavern, in what is now the Town of Canton, on August 16, 1774. Dele- 
gates from every town in the county were present and the meeting has become 
known as the "Suffolk Congress." A second meeting of the congress was held at 
Woodward's Tavern in Dedham, September 6, 1774, the day following the as- 
sembling of the first Continental Congress at Philadelphia. An adjournment was 
taken to the 9th, when the delegates again met, this time at the house of Daniel 
Vose, in the Town of Milton, where the famous "Suffolk Resolves" were unani- 
mously adopted. As these resolves show the all prevailing sentiment of that day, 
and as they originated in what is now Norfolk County, nearly two years before 
the Declaration of Independence, they form an important part of the county's 
history and are here reproduced in full : 

"Whereas, the power but not the justice, the vengeance but not the wisdom, 
of Great Britain, which of old persecuted, scourged and exiled our fugitive par- 
ents from their native shores, now pursues us, their guiltless children, with unre- 
lenting severity ; and whereas, this then savage and uncultivated desert was pur- 
chased by the toil and treasure, or acquired by the valor and blood of those of our 
venerable progenitors, who bequeathed to us the dear-bought inheritance, who con- 
signed it to our care and protection — the most sacred obligations are upon us to 
transmit the glorious purchase, unfettered by power, unclogged with shackles, to 
our innocent and beloved offspring. On the fortitude, on the wisdom, and on the 
exertions of this important day is suspended the fate of this New World and of un- 
born millions. If a boundless extent of continent, swarming with millions, will tame- 
ly submit to live, move and have their being at the arbitrary will of a licentious min- 
ister, they basely yield to volunteer slavery, and future generations shall load their 
memories with incessant execrations. On the other hand, if we arrest the hand 
which would ransack our pockets ; if we disarm the parricide who points the 
dagger at our bosoms; if we nobly defeat that fatal edict which proclaims a power 
to frame laws for us in all cases whatsoever, thereby entailing the endless and num- 
berless curses of slavery upon us, our heirs, and their heirs forever ; if we suc- 
cessfully resist that unconstitutional power, whereby our capital is robbed of the 
means of life ; whereby the streets of Boston are thronged with military execu- 
tioners ; whereby our coasts are lined and our harbors crowded with ships of war; 
whereby the charter of the colony, that sacred barrier against the encroachments of 
tyranny, is mutilated, and in effect annihilated ; whereby a murderous law is 
framed to shelter villains from the hand of justice ; whereby that inalienable and 
inestimable inheritance, which we derived from nature, the constitution of Britain, 
which was covenanted to us in the charter of the province, is totally wrecked, 



316 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

annulled and vacated — posterity will acknowledge that virtue which preserved 
the free and happy; and while we enjoy the rewards and blessings of the faithful, 
the torrent of panegyric will roll down our reputations to the latest period, where 
the streams of time shall be absorbed in the abyss of eternity. Therefore we 
have resolved, and do resolve : 

"i. That whereas His Majesty King George the Third is the rightful suc- 
cessor to the throne of Great Britain, and justly entitled to the allegiance of the 
British realm, and, agreeable to compact of the English colonies in America — 
therefore we, the heirs and successors of the first planters of the colony, do cheer- 
fully acknowledge the said George the Third to be our rightful sovereign, and 
that said covenant is the tenure and claim on which are founded our allegiance 
and submission. 

"2. That it is an indispensable duty which we owe to God, our country, our- 
selves and our posterity, by all lawful ways and means in our power, to maintain, 
defend and preserve these civil and religious rights and liberties for which many 
of our fathers fought, bled and died, and to hand them down entire to future 
generations. 

"3. That the late acts of the British Parliament for blocking up the harbor 
of Boston, and for altering the established form of government in this colony ; 
and for screening the most flagitious violators of the laws of the province from a 
legal trial, are gross infractions of those rights to which we are justly entitled 
by the laws of nature, the British Constitution and the charter of the province. 

"4. That no obedience is due from this province to either or any part of 
the acts above mentioned ; but that they be rejected as the attempts of a wicked ad- 
ministration to enslave America. 

"5. That so long as the justices of our superior courts of judicature, court 
of assize and general gaol delivery, and inferior courts of common pleas in this 
county are appointed or hold their places by any other tenure than that which the 
charter and the laws of the province direct, they must be considered as under 
undue influence and are therefore unconstitutional officers, and as such no regard 
ought to be paid to them by the people of this country. 

"6. That if the justices of the superior court of judicature, court of assize, 
etc., justices of the court of common pleas, or of the general sessions of the peace, 
shall sit and act during their present unqualified state, this country will support 
and bear harmless all sheriffs and their deputies, constables, jurors and other 
officers who shall refuse to carry into execution the orders of said courts. And 
as far as is possible to prevent the inconveniences that must attend the suspension 
of the courts of justice, we do earnestly recommend it to all creditors to exercise 
all reasonable and generous forbearance to their debtors, and to all debtors to dis- 
charge their just debts with all possible speed; and if any disputes concerning 
debts or trespasses shall arise, which cannot be settled by the parties, we recom- 
mend it to them to submit all such cases to arbitration ; and if the parties, or either 
of them shall refuse to do so, they ought to be considered as cooperating with the 
enemies of this country. 

"7. That it be recommended to the collectors of taxes, constables and all 
other officers who have public moneys in their hands, to retain the same, and not 
to make any payment thereof to the province or county treasurers, until the civil 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 317 

government of the province is placed upon a constitutional foundation, or until 
it shall be otherwise ordered by the proposed Provincial Congress. 

"8. That the persons who have accepted seats at the Council Board by virtue 
of a mandamus from the King in conformity with the last Act of the British 
Parliament, entitled 'An Act for the regulating the Government of the Massa- 
chusetts Bay,' have acted in direct violation of the duty they owe to the country, 
and have thereby given great and just offence to this people. Therefore, 

"Resolved, That this county do recommend it to all persons who have [been] 
so highly offending by accepting said department, and have not already publicly re- 
signed their seats in the Council Board, to make public resignation of their places 
at said Board on or before the twentieth day of this instant September ; and that 
all persons neglecting so to do shall from and after that day be considered by this 
county as obstinate and incorrigible enemies of this colony. 

"9. That the fortifications begun and now carrying on upon Boston Neck 
are justly alarming to this country, and give us reason to apprehend some hostile 
intention against that town, more especially as the commander-in-chief has in a 
very extraordinary manner removed the powder from the magazine at Charles- 
town, and has also forbidden the keeper of the magazine at Boston to deliver out to 
the owners the powder which they lodged in said magazine. 

"10. That the late act of Parliament for establishing the Roman Catholic 
religion and the French laws in that extensive country now called Canada is dan- 
gerous to an extreme degree to the Protestant religion, and to the civil rights and 
liberties of all America ; and therefore as men and Protestant Christians we are 
indispensably obliged to take all proper measures for our security. 

"11. That whereas our enemies have flattered themselves that they shall 
make an easy prey of this numerous brave and hardy people from an apprehension 
that they are unacquainted with military discipline, we therefore, for the honor, 
defence and security of this country and province, advise, as it has been recom- 
mended to take away all commissions from the officers of the militia, that those 
who now hold commissions, Qr such other persons, be elected in each town as 
officers in the militia, as shall be judged of sufficient capacity for that purpose, and 
who have evidenced themselves the inflexible friends to the rights of the people ; 
and that the inhabitants of those towns and districts who are qualified do use their 
utmost diligence to acquaint themselves with the arts of war as soon as possible, 
and do for that purpose appear under arms at least once every week. 

"12. That during the present hostile appearances on the part of Great Britain, 
notwithstanding the many insults and impressions which we must sensibly resent, 
yet, nevertheless, from an affection to His Majesty, which we have at all times 
evidenced, we are determined to act merely upon the defensive, so long as such 
conduct may be vindicated by reason and the principles of self-preservation, but 
no longer. 

"13. That as we understand it has been in contemplation to apprehend sundry 
persons of this country, who have rendered themselves conspicuous in contending 
for the violated rights and liberties of their countrymen, we do recommend, that 
should such an audacious measure be put into practice, to seize and keep in safe 
custody every servant of the present tyrannical and unconstitutional government 
throughout the country and province, until the persons so apprehended are lib- 



318 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

erated from the hands of our adversaries and restored safe and uninjured to 
their respective friends and families. 

"14. That until our rights are fully restored to us, we will to the utmost of 
our power (and recommend the same to other counties) withhold all commercial 
intercourse with Great Britain, Ireland and the West Indies, and abstain from the 
consumption of British merchandise and manufacture, and especially of East 
India teas and piece goods, with such additions, alterations and exceptions only 
as the Grand Congress of the colonies may agree to. 

"15. That under our present circumstances it is incumbent on us to encourage 
arts and manufactures amongst us by all means in our power ; and that Joseph Pal- 
mer, Esq., of Braintree; Mr. Ebenezer Dorr of Roxbury; Mr. James Bois and Mr. 
Edward Preston of Milton ; and Mr. Nathaniel Guild of Walpole, be and hereby 
are appointed a committee to consider of the best ways and means to promote and 
establish the same, and report to this convention as soon as may be. 

"16. That the exigencies of our public affairs demand that a Provincial 
Congress be called to concert such measures as may be adopted and vigorously exe- 
cuted by the whole people ; and we do recommend it to the several towns in this 
county to choose members for such a Provincial Congress to be holden in Concord 
on the second Tuesday of October next ensuing. 

"17. That this county confiding in the wisdom and integrity of the Continental 
Congress now sitting at Philadelphia, will pay all due respect and submission to 
such measures as may be recommended by them to the colonies, for the restoration 
and establishment of our just rights, civil and religious, and for renewing that har- 
mony and union between Great Britain and the colonies so earnestly wished for 
by all good men. 

"18. Whereas, the universal uneasiness which prevails among all orders of 
men, arising from the wicked and oppressive measures of the present administra- 
tion, may influence some unthinking persons to commit outrage upon private prop- 
erty, we would heartily recommend to all persons of this community not to engage 
in any riots, routs or licentious attacks upon the properties of any person whatso- 
ever, as being subversive of all order and government, but, by a steady, manly, uni- 
form and persevering opposition to convince our enemies, that in a contest so im- 
portant, in a cause so solemn, our conduct shall be such as shall merit the approba- 
tion of the wise and the admiration of the brave and free of every age and of 
every country. 

"19. That should our enemies by any sudden manoeuvers, render it necessary 
for us to ask aid and assistance of our brethren in the country, some one of the 
committee of correspondence, or a select man of such a town, or the town adjoin- 
ing where such hostilities shall commence, shall despatch couriers with written 
messages to the select men or committee of correspondence of the several towns 
in the vicinity, with a written account of such matter, who shall despatch others 
to committees or select men more remote till proper and sufficient assistance be 
obtained; and that the expense of said couriers be defrayed by the county until it 
shall be otherwise ordered by the Provincial Congress. 

"Voted that Joseph Warren, Esq., and Dr. Benjamin Church of Boston; Dea- 
con Joseph Palmer and Colonel Ebenezer Thayer of Braintree ; Captain Lemuel 
Robinson, William Holden, Esq., and Captain John Homans of Dorchester; Capt. 
William Heath of Roxbury; Colonel William Taylor and Dr. Samuel Gardner of 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 319 

Milton; Isaac Gardner, Esq., Capt. Benjamin White and Capt. Thomas Aspinwall 
of Brookline; Nathaniel Sumner, Esq., and Richard Woodward of Dedham — be 
a committee to wait on His Excellency the Governor, to inform him that this 
country is alarmed at the fortifications making on Boston Neck, and to remon- 
strate against the same, and the repeated insults offered by the soldiery to per- 
sons passing and repassing into that town; and to confer with him upon those 
subjects. 

"Attest: William Thompson, Clerk." 

WORK OF THE TOWNS 

At the time of the adoption of these resolves, the organized towns within 
the present limits of Norfolk County were Bellingham, Braintree, Brookline, 
Cohasset, Dedham, Medfield, Medway, Milton, Needham, Stoughton, Walpole, 
Weymouth and Wrentham. The action of the Suffolk Congress in adopting the 
resolutions encouraged the people in their determination to resist to the utmost 
further encroachments upon their liberties. Military companies were formed in 
almost every town. They were known as "Minute Men," because the members 
pledged themselves to drop their peaceful occupations and take up arms ''at a 
minute's warning." The time to answer the call came much sooner than many 
of them anticipated, but not one failed at the crucial moment. 

Bellingham began her activities on September 2, 1774, when delegates were 
chosen to attend the meeting of the Suffolk Congress to be held at Woodward's 
Tavern in Dedham on the 6th, and voted the sum of five pounds for the pur- 
chase of ammunition. On the 30th of the same month Luke Holbrook was chosen 
as delegate to the Provincial Congress to meet at Concord the following month. 
On the 19th of December the town voted to appropriate seven pounds more to 
the ammunition fund and elected Stephen Metcalf the congressional delegate 
for February. At a town meeting in January, 1775, a motion was made to appro- 
priate a sum of money to "pay those men ready to go at a minute's warning," 
but it failed to pass. On April 25, 1775, six days after the battle of Lexington, 
the town voted unanimously in favor of giving a bounty of £1 5s to every mem- 
ber of the "town's share of the 13,600 men to be enlisted, if Congress does not 
give it." From that time forward Bellingham was represented on the firing line, 
no fewer than ninety-three of her sons serving in the Continental army. 

Braintree was a hotbed of rebellion. There Gen. Joseph Palmer was a leader 
in the opposition to British oppression. At a meeting held on March 1, 1773, 
more than two years before the actual beginning of the war, he submitted a 
series of resolutions, one of which was "That all taxation, by what name soever 
called, imposed upon us without our consent by any earthly power, is unconsti- 
tutional, oppressive, and tend to enslave us." 

General Palmer was one of the committee named in the Suffolk Resolves to 
wait upon the governor and remonstrate against the fortification of Boston Neck. 
He, with Ebenezer Thayer and Capt. William Penniman, was appointed on the 
committee of correspondence in August, 1774. The North Precinct (now 
Ouincy) was full of tories. Near the Church of England the town's supply of 
powder was stored in a small house built for the purpose. When General Gage, 
about the 1st of September, 1774, seized the ammunition at Charlestown, the 



320 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

people of Braintree grew alarmed for the safety of their powder. On Sunday 
evening, September 4, 1774, about two hundred men marched to the powder- 
house, loaded the powder into a cart and took it to the South Precinct, where it 
was concealed until it might be needed. 

A town meeting on April 24, 1775, instructed the selectmen "to dismiss Mr. 
Rice their Cramer Schoolmaster as soon as their present Engagements are ex- 
pired." The reason for this action was to save the money expended on the 
school for the purchase of ammunition and the payment of volunteers. Mr. 
Rice afterward became captain of a company. 

On Saturday, June 17, 1775, the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, the roar 
of cannon from the British men-of-war, as they shelled the breastworks that 
had been thrown up the night before, could be distinctly heard in Quincy. Mrs. 
John Adams, accompanied by her son, John Quincy Adams, went to the top 
of Penn's Hill, hoping to ascertain what was going on in the vicinity of Boston. 
The great volume of black smoke that arose from burning Charlestown could 
be plainly seen. A cairn of stones marks the spot where the mother and child 
sat to watch afar the first great battle of the War for Independence. 

In June, 1777, a Braintree town meeting was called "for the purpose of agree- 
ing upon a list of those Persons dwelling in Braintree who are esteamed Inimical 
to the popular Cause." This was the first pronounced action against the tories 
of the town. The selectmen presented the names of Rev. Edward Winslow, 
Maj. Ebenezer Miller, Benjamin Cleverly, Joseph Cleverly, James Apthorp, John 
Cheesman, William Veazie, Nedabiah Bent and Oliver Gay. To this list the 
meeting added the names of Henry Cleverly, Joseph Cleverly (2nd), William 
Veazie, Jr., and Thomas Brackett. Capt. William Penniman was chosen to 
procure evidence of their disloyalty and lay it before the court. Mr. Winslow 
followed the British army to New York. The other proscribed citizens, if they 
still retained their tory views, were careful not to give them voice. Subsequently 
some property in the town, belonging to non-resident tories, was seized and sold. 
One piece of this confiscated property was the old Vassall house, which was 
bought by John Adams, and from which he was buried in 1826. 

Says Charles Francis Adams: "Between the years 1775 and 1782, as nearly 
as can now be estimated, Braintree sent into the field about 550 men, enlisted 
for periods of six months or over. The number of men, as well as the length 
of enlistment, varied with the different years. In 1775, for instance, besides 
the militia to guard the coast, the town sent not less than 150 men, enlisted to 
the close of the year, into Washington's army about Boston. In 1776 about 120 
men were furnished. In 1777 some seventy were enlisted for three years. In 
no year were less than forty sent, except in 1781, when the enlistment appears 
to have been for four months only. Under this system the same men in the 
course of a seven years' war may have enlisted several times. It is therefore 
impossible even to estimate the portion of Braintree's 650 arms-bearing men who 
actually served in the Continental army, though it is probably safe to say that 
the number did not fall below 300." 

Brookline placed herself on record as early as December 15, 1767, soon after 
Parliament levied the tax on tea, a town meeting voted unanimously "That this 
Town will take all prudent and Legal Measures to promote Industry Occonimy 
& Manufactures in this Province & in any of the British American Colonys & 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 321 

will like wise take all Legal Measures to discourage the Use of European 
Superfluities." 

The "Superfluities" referred to were the articles subjected to taxation. Wil- 
liam Hyslop, Benjamin White, Isaac Gardner, John Goddard and Samuel Aspin- 
wall were chosen as a committee "to prepare a form for subscription against 
Receiving of those European Superfluities and make report at the Adjournment 
of this meeting." The report was made on the 29th and a number of the citizens 
signed the agreement not to use tea until the offensive tax was removed. Be- 
tween 1772 and 1774 several town meetings passed resolutions and appointed 
committees to act with the other towns of the province in resistance to British 
aggression. On November 17, 1774, the "Bill of Rights" submitted by the first 
Continental Congress to the colonies was passed unanimously, and on May 29, 
1775, Capt. Benjamin White was elected delegate to the Provincial Congress to 
be held at Watertown. 

When the "Lexington Alarm" was sounded through the Massachusetts towns 
on April 19, 1775, two companies from Brookline responded. One was officered 
by Capt. Timothy Corey, First Lieut. Thomas Cummings, Second Lieut. Jonas 
Johnson, and the other by Capt. Thomas White, First Lieut. Caleb Craft, Second 
Lieut. Daniel White. Lieutenant Craft afterward commanded a company of 
militia on Dorchester Heights from July 4 to 28, 1778, the company forming 
part of Colonel Macintosh's regiment. The companies commanded by Captains 
Pettengill, Childs and Coggswell also contained a number of Brookline men. 

Cohasset was some distance from the "seat of war," but the people were 
just as determined in their course as those who dwelt nearer to Boston. On 
March 7, 1774, it was voted to build a closet in the meeting house for ammuni- 
tion. On Christmas day of that year a committee of eleven was chosen as recom- 
mended by the Continental Congress. Jesse Stephenson was chairman of the 
committee. At the same time it was voted to pay the province tax to Henry 
Gardner instead of Harrison Gray, and to indemnify the selectmen and constables 
for so doing. On April 28, 1775, an appropriation was made to buy one hundred 
pounds of gunpowder and five hundred flints. 

In actual military service Capt. Job Cushing's Cohasset company was attached 
to Colonel Revere's regiment; Captain Stowers commanded a company that was 
engaged in guarding the coast ; Capt. Noah Nichols commanded a company of 
artillery, nearly all the members of which came from Cohasset; Maj. James 
Stoddard was one of the "Boston Tea Party," and afterward led the attacking 
party that captured a British brig becalmed off the Cohasset shore, laden with 
supplies for the British troops in Boston ; Joseph Bates was in the battle of 
Bunker Hill and after his ammunition was exhausted was seen throwing stones 
at the English troops as they swarmed over the breastworks ; and the name of 
Benjamin Lincoln has been handed down in history as one of the heroes of the 
Revolution. 

Dedham, which then included several of the adjacent towns that have been 
incorporated since the Revolution, heard the news of the Lexington affair about 
nine o'clock on the morning of April 19, 1775. The messenger came through 
Needham and Dover, probably for the reason that the more direct routes were 
held by the enemy. Six companies of minute men were quickly assembled, 
to-wit : Capt. Joseph Guild's and Capt. Aaron Fuller's of the First Parish ; 

Vol. 1—21 



322 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Capt. William Ellis', of the Third Parish; Capt. William Bullard's, from the 
South Parish (now Norwood) ; Capt. Ebenezer Battle's, from the Fourth Parish 
(now Dover) ; and a company of seventeen men commanded by Capt. George 
Gould, with Richard Woodward as lieutenant, went from that part of the town 
known as Dedham Island, and West Roxbury. After a hurried march Captain 
Fuller's company and Captain Battle's company met the British as they were 
retreating toward Boston. In the action which followed, Elias Haven was killed 
and Israel Everett was wounded. The former belonged to Captain Battle's com- 
pany and the latter to Captain Fuller's. 

During the month following, companies of soldiers from the southerly parts 
of the province and from Rhode Island were constantly passing through Dedham 
to join the Continental army about Boston. Toward the end of April some of 
the provincial cannon were removed to Dedham to be out of reach of the enemy. 
In May the town voted to raise 120 men, "to be ready to march on an alarm." 
Committees were appointed to procure guns and ammunition, a night watch was 
established, and the great gun of King Philip's war was ordered "to be swung." 
Ebenezer Brackett was detailed to guard the cannon. 

On May 27, 1776, six weeks before the adoption of the Declaration of 
Independence by the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, a Dedham town meet- 
ing declared that "if the Honourable Congress shall see fit to declare the Colonies 
Independent of Great Britain the Inhabitants of this town will solemnly engage 
to Support them in that Measure." 

In July, 1776, the town voted a bounty of seven pounds to each soldier in 
addition to the other wages, and a committee was chosen to provide for soldiers' 
families needing assistance. In February, 1777, the bounty was increased to 
twenty-four pounds for each man who would enlist for three years or during 
the war. In 1778 the First Parish imposed a tax of £4,480 upon the inhabitants 
for military purposes, and in 1779 another assessment of £8,000 was made 
"towards defraying the expense of hiring soldiers." Worthington, in his 
History of Dedham, estimates the annual expenditures of the town during the 
war at about eight thousand dollars. Thus it will be seen that from start to 
finish Dedham bore her part, both in men and money. 

Medfield's revolutionary activity began with the passage of the Stamp Act 
in 1765. Seth Clark, then the representative in the General Court, received 
instructions not to "give acquiescence, or even a willing submission to the acts 
of Parliament." The instructions close with the injunction to "honor the king, 
but save the country." 

In 1774 the town adopted the agreement and articles of the Continental 
Congress and ordered the resolutions to be entered on the town records. During 
the years 1774-75 meetings were held by adjournment from week to week, a 
committee of correspondence of five members was chosen, one-fourth of the able- 
bodied men were enrolled as minute men and were paid for the time spent in 
drilling — three half days each week. When the news of the battle of Lexington 
reached Medfield, Capt. Sabin Mann and his company of twenty-seven marched 
to the field and were in service for twelve days. In all, eighty-two Medfield 
men responded to the Lexington Alarm. Captain Chenery marched for Bunker 
Hill when it was learned that a battle was on there. He arrived too late to be 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 323 

of service on that eventful day, but he and his company served in the siege of 
Boston. 

Medway was not behind her sister towns in giving expression to sentiments 
in opposition to the Stamp Act and those other acts of Parliament which fol- 
lowed it. Elisha Adams, the representative, received similar instructions to those 
sent from Medfield to Seth Clark. In January, 1775, an appropriation of thirty 
pounds was made "to encourage the enlisting of a number of able-bodied men 
to the number of one-fourth of the military soldiers to complete and hold them- 
selves in readiness to march at shortest notice." 

In this company of minute men Joshua Gould was a lieutenant. A full list 
of Medway's volunteers cannot be given, but she did her share, both in creating 
patriotic sentiment and fighting the battles of the colonies. 

Milton was one of the first towns to go on record in opposition to the Stamp 
Act. On October 24, 1765, Dr. Samuel Gardner, Benjamin Wadsworth and 
Jazaniah Tucker were chosen a committee to draw up instructions to Stephen 
Miller, the town's representative in the General Court. The instructions are 
too long to be reproduced here, but they voiced in no uncertain language the 
town's opposition to an act that made the colonists "as distant from the liberty 
of Englishmen as are the slaves in Turkey." Mr. Miller was also instructed to 
"discountenance as far as lies in your power the late horrible outrages that have 
been committed in the town of Boston, and that you use your utmost endeavors 
that the Offenders may be found out and brought to Justice," etc. 

It was in the Town of Milton that the Suffolk Resolves were adopted. In 
June, 1774, three months before the adoption of the resolves, a town meeting 
in Milton appointed a committee to "consider and determine upon some proper 
measures for this town to come into respecting the situation of public affairs." 
Capt. David Rawson, Ralph Houghton, Amariah Blake, Oliver Vose, Joseph 
Clapp, Dr. Samuel Gardner and Samuel Henshaw, Jr., constituted the com- 
mittee. The report — an address to the people and a series of resolutions — was 
submitted to an adjourned meeting on July 25, 1774, "and was unanimously 
agreed to." One of the resolutions was : "That we will unite with our Brethren, 
'The Sons of Freedom in America,' in any proper Measures that may be adopted 
to defeat the late Cruel and Oppressive acts of the British Parliament respecting 
America and this Distressed Province in Particular, to extirpate the idea of 
Tyranizing which is so fondly Fostered in the bosoms of those in Power and to 
secure to our selves and to Posterity our invaluable Rights and Priviledges." 

In the General Court, in the Suffolk Congress, in the Provincial Congress 
and on the field, Milton men were to be found doing their full duty, never falter- 
ing until the American colonies were forever freed from the British yoke. 

In Needham three companies of minute men had been organized prior to 
the battle of Lexington. They were respectively commanded by Capt. Caleb 
Kingsbury, Capt. Aaron Smith and Capt. Robert Smith. The first numbered 
forty men, the second seventy, and the third seventy-five. About eight o'clock 
on the morning of April 19, 1775, a messenger (tradition says he was bare- 
headed) rode through Needham on his way to Dover and Dedham, carrying the 
news of the battle of Lexington. Ephraim Bullard, who kept a tavern on the 
Sherborn road, went to the top of a hill near by and fired his musket three times 
as a signal for the minute men to assemble. Fires were made in the house, 



324 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

women assisted in moulding bullets and preparing rations for the men, and as 
fast as they could be supplied they started for the scene of the conflict. 

The Needham companies encountered the British at West Cambridge, and 
lost no time in getting into action. First Lieut. John Bacon, Amos Mills and 
Nathaniel Chamberlain, of Captain Kingsbury's company were killed, and Sec- 
ond Lieut. Eleazer Kingsbury was wounded. Capt. Robert Smith's company 
lost Sergt. Elisha Mills and Jonathan Parker killed, and John Tolman, wounded. 

Throughout the war Needham sustained her reputation for patriotism and 
loyalty to the cause of the colonists. Committees of correspondence and public 
safety were appointed from time to time, large sums of money for that period 
were raised to pay troops and provide for soldiers' families, and in every possible 
way measures were adopted to aid in a successful prosecution of the war. Col. 
William Mcintosh, a Needham man, was commissioned colonel of the first 
regiment of militia in the County of Suffolk on February 14, 1776, and served 
to the close of the conflict. Washington commended him as "a good officer 
and a brave man." 

At the time of the Revolution, Stoughton included the towns of Canton, 
Sharon and a large part of Foxboro. On September 26, 1774, Thomas Crane 
was elected representative to the General Court and instructed "to adhere firmly 
to the Charter of the Province as granted by their Majestys William and Mary 
& to do no act acknowledging the validity of the act of the British Parliament 
for altering the Government of Massachusetts Bay." 

Two companies of minute men from what is now Sharon responded to the 
Lexington alarm on April 19, 1775. The first, numbering thirty-two men, was 
commanded by Capt. Samuel Payson, with Royall Kollock as lieutenant, and the 
second by Capt. Israel Smith, with Daniel Morse as lieutenant. This company 
numbered but twenty-two men. 

Besides these two companies, seven others from Stoughton answered the 
call. They were Capt. James Endicott's, eighty-three men ; Capt. William Briggs', 
forty-one men; Capt. Asahel Smith's, seventy-seven men; Capt. Peter Talbot's, 
eighty-five men ; Capt. Josiah Pratt's, thirty-three men ; Capt. Edward Savel's, 
sixty-four men ; and Capt. Ebenezer Tisdale's, thirty-one men, making a total 
of 469 men that went from Stoughton at the first clash of arms. Captain Savel's 
company afterward responded to the second call for troops and assisted in the 
fortification of Dorchester Heights on the night of March 9, 1776, the movement 
which forced the British to evacuate Boston. 

Nor did the activities of Stoughton stop there. On July 8, 1776, a meeting 
voted "to raise a sum of money to be levied upon polls and estates to give to 
each man to the number of thirty-eight (the town's assigned quota) that shall 
enlist in the service of the Northern Department against Quebec, the sum of 
£6 6s 8d as an addition to their bounty." At the same time fourteen prominent 
citizens each agreed to pay the poll-tax for two men that would enter the service 
as aforesaid. 

Walpole adopted a series of resolutions in 1773, reported to a town meeting 
by a committee consisting of Aquilla Robbins, Enoch Ellis, George Payson, 
Seth Bullard and Samuel Cheney. Just what the text of the resolutions was it is 
impossible to say, but Henry E. Fales, in his address at the dedication of the 
town hall in 1881 says "they rang with patriotism and independence." Two com- 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 325 

panies — Capt. Jeremiah Smith's and Capt. Seth Bullard's — a total of 132 min- 
ute men, marched from Walpole to Lexington, and in Captain Mann's company 
of Medfield there were twenty-five Walpole men. Later a Walpole company 
commanded by Capt. Aaron Guild assisted in fortifying Dorchester Heights. 
Captain Fisher's company took part in what was known as the Warwick expedi- 
tion, and there was at least one Walpole man with Washington when he crossed 
the Delaware — Holland Wood, who served in the artillery. It is said that at 
the battle of Monmouth his gun fell from its carriage and that with his own 
unaided strength he replaced it and went on with the fight. 

Weymouth took an active part in the events that preceded the Revolution. 
On October 16, 1765, Maj. James Humphrey, then representative in the General 
Court received definite instructions as to the course he. was to pursue with 
regard to the Stamp Act. On September 21, 1768, James Humphrey and Dr. 
Cotton Tufts were appointed agents to meet in Faneuil Hall in Boston the next 
day, to consult with agents of other towns upon the state of public affairs. At a 
town meeting on January 3, 1774, it was decided "by a very great majority not 
to purchase nor use any of the East India Company's teas of any kind (excepting 
such as. they might now have on hand) until the act of Parliament laying a duty 
thereon be repealed." In December, 1774, both precincts accepted the agreement 
and articles of association recommended by the Continental Congress. 

On March 9, 1775, a committee of correspondence, of which Dr. Cotton 
Tufts was chairman, was chosen to act with similar committees of the neighbor- 
ing towns. The first meeting of this committee was held at Arnold's Tavern at 
Weymouth Landing a few days later and from that time to the close of the war 
rendered efficient service. A company of minute men was organized and on 
March 13, 1775, it was voted to pay each member of the company a shilling a 
week for four weeks. On May 2, 1775, it was voted to pay "a pistareen a day 
for a week to a company of fifteen men for a military guard in the present trouble- 
some times." 

Nathaniel Bayley was chosen a delegate on May 24, 1775, to the Provincial 
Congress to meet at Watertown on the last day of that month, and at the same 
time the committee on correspondence was directed to ascertain who were in need 
of arms. The day following this meeting the town accepted the offer of Mr. 
Polley to allow the town the use of two swivel guns then at Salem, and Doctor 
Tufts agreed to have them brought to Weymouth. 

These active preparations for war were largely due to an event that occurred 
on May 21, 1775. Three ships and a cutter came out from Boston Harbor and 
early on that morning dropped anchor in Weymouth Fore River. Alarm bells 
were rung, the Braintree minute men fell in at the tap of the drum, many of the 
women and children in the northern part of Weymouth were hurried to places 
of safety, and general consternation reigned. One report said that 300 men had 
been landed and were marching on Weymouth Village. Another rumor stated 
that they were marching against Germantown. As a matter of fact the British 
consisted of nothing more formidable than a foraging party, but in a little while 
enough minute men had been assembled to cause them to embark on their vessels 
and set sail for Boston. 

The Declaration of Independence was read from the pulpits of both the Wey- 
mouth churches on the first Sunday after it was received, and was spread in full 



326 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

upon the town records. About this time the town took steps to prevent a monopoly 
in articles of necessity and to fix prices at which such articles should be sold. 

Just how much money was raised by taxation in Weymouth for the purpose 
of buying ammunition and paying bounties to soldiers, would be difficult to 
state. But from 1775 to 1778 there was scarcely a town meeting in which the 
question did not come up, and in a majority of instances of this kind appropria- 
tions ranging from twenty pounds to one thousand pounds were voted. Among 
the Weymouth men who served with distinction in the army may be mentioned 
Capt. Thomas Nash, who served under Washington during the siege of Boston 
and was officer of the day the night Dorchester Heights were fortified ; Capts. 
Joseph Trufant, Samuel Ward, Asa White and Lieutenant Gushing, who were 
with Benedict Arnold in the Canada expedition ; Lieuts. Samuel Kingman, Thomas 
Vinson, David Joy and Asa Dyer ; and last but not least Gen. Solomon Lovell, 
who was in command of the Eastern Military District, the headquarters of which 
were in Boston. General Lovell also commanded a brigade in the Rhode Island 
campaign of 1778, and was commander of the unfortunate Penobscot expedition 
in 1779, which failed because of the failure of Commodore Saltonstall to cooperate 
with his fleet. Saltonstall was afterward cashiered for cowardice and inefficiency. 

Wrentham began her revolutionary history at an adjourned town meeting on 
November 1, 1765, when a protest against the Stamp Act was placed on the records 
of the town and a copy forwarded to the General Court. It was drawn up by 
John Goldsberry, Jabez Fisher and Lemuel Kollock. The House of Representa- 
i-'-^ Ii.kI und.rr cm ii!<-'-'ii"n ;i bill to grant compensation to the sufferers from 
the Stamp Act riots in Boston and free and general pardon to the offenders, and 
the town instructed its representative, Jabez Fisher, to support the measure. 

A company of minute men was organized in January, 1775, and it was soon 
followed by another. The first was commanded by Capt. Oliver Pond ; Wiggles- 
worth Messinger, first lieutenant ; Hezekiah Ware, second lieutenant. The officers 
of the second company were: Benjamin Hawes, captain; Timothy Guild, second 
lieutenant (no first lieutenant appears on the muster rolls). Capt. Samuel Cowell 
raised a company immediately following the Lexington alarm, and from the 
northerly part of the town went the companies commanded by Capts. Asa Fair- 
banks, Elijah Pond and David Holbrook. Still another company that was organ- 
ized in 1775 (Samuel Warner says it marched to Lexington on April 19, 1775) 
was the one of which Lemuel Kollock was captain; Joseph Everett, first lieuten- 
ant; Swift Payson, second lieutenant. Capt. Thomas Bacon also commanded a 
Wrentham company which left the town on the last day of April, 1775. Captain 
Hawes afterward was promoted to colonel. In 1778 Lieut. Timothy Morse 
recruited twenty-four men in a short time in the bar-room of the old Wrentham 
Tavern for three years' service. Altogether Wrentham has no cause to be 
ashamed of her Revolutionary record. 

Quite a number of the descendants of Revolutionary soldiers still live in 
Norfolk County. A few years ago the State of Massachusetts caused to be com- 
piled and published complete rosters of the regiments and companies that served 
in the War for Independence. These volumes are in nearly every public library 
in the state, and by consulting them a full record of any individual soldier may 
be obtained. The records for the Norfolk County towns are too voluminous to 
be included in a work of this character. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 
WAR OF 1812— MEXICAN WAR 

WAR OF l8l2 RIGHT OF SEARCH .OTHER CAUSES OF THE WAR NAPOLEON'S 

DECREES BRITISH ORDERS IN COUNCIL WAR DECLARED IN NORFOLK 

COUNTY — WAR WITH MEXICO — ITS CAUSES — ARMY OF OCCUPATION — NORFOLK 
COUNTY IN THE WAR. 

The story of Norfolk County's participation in the War of 181 2 and the 
Mexican war is soon told, as both conflicts were unpopular in the New England 
States and only a few troops were enrolled in that section of the country. Not 
only was the number of soldiers few, but also the records of those who served in 
the army and navy in both the War of 18 12 and the War with Mexico have not 
been carefully preserved, hence the historian is at a loss for adequate data. 

RIGHT OF SEARCH 

One of the causes of the War of 1812, sometimes called the "Second War 
with England," dates back almost to the beginning of the American Republic. 
That was the "Right of Search." Great Britain seems to have held to the theory 
"Once an Englishman always an Englishman," and claimed the right to search 
American ships on the high seas for such seamen. If one was found he was 
charged with being a deserter and "pressed" into the British service. Between 
the years 1796 and 1802, nearly two thousand American sailors were thus taken 
from vessels and pressed into the service of England. Although the United 
States authorities made frequent protests against this practice, it was not regarded 
as a sufficient cause for declaring war, and as England ignored the protests the 
impressment continued. 

OTHER CAUSES OF THE WAR 

During the closing years of the Eighteenth Century and the opening years 
of the Nineteenth France and England were at war, which gave a great impetus 
to American commerce. This trade was seriously interfered with in May, 1806, 
when Napoleon declared the ports of Bremen and Hamburg closed to neutral 
vessels. Great Britain immediately retaliated with her "Orders in Council," de- 
claring the coasts of Belgium, Holland and Germany to the mouth of the River 
Elbe in a state of blockade. Napoleon's retort to> these orders was the Berlin 
Decree of November 21, 1806, announcing a blockade against all the ports of 
England. More Orders in Council followed on January 7, 1807, prohibiting ships 
from neutral countries from trading from port to port in France, or with any 

327 



328 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

country in alliance with France. This closed practically all European ports to 
American commerce. 

Throughout the remainder of the year 1807, "Orders" and "Decrees" were 
hurled back and forth between England and France. They could not be enforced, 
but they had the effect of making trade between either country and America un- 
lawful and therefore dangerous. On December 22, 1807, President Jefferson 
approved "An act to prevent Americans from engaging in foreign commerce." 
This act, which became widely known as the "Embargo Act," met with great 
opposition from the New England States and under it smuggling flourished. So 
unpopular did it become that early in February, 1809, Congress declared by 
resolution that its effects should end with Jefferson's administration on March 
4, 1809. 

On that date President Madison was inaugurated and England sent David 
Erskine as minister to the United States. With him Madison negotiated a treaty 
which promised the withdrawal of the Orders in Council, at least so far as Ameri- 
can trade was concerned, and as soon as the terms of the treaty were made public 
six hundred ships left American ports. But the London Cabinet refused to 
ratify the treaty and Mr. Erskine was recalled. F. J. Jackson was then sent to 
Washington as the English minister. He insulted President Madison by insinuat- 
ing that Erskine had been duped into signing the treaty and was dismissed. 

Thus matters went on from bad to worse, the relations between the two coun- 
tries becoming constantly more strained. In the spring of 1810 France seized 
and confiscated American cargoes valued at $10,000,000, because some of Na- 
poleon's decrees had been violated. At the same time France agreed to set aside 
the decrees, provided England would rescind her Orders in Council. In the 
meantime the Embargo Act had been succeeded by another of the same character, 
not quite so arbitrary in its provisions, known as the "Non-Intercourse Act." 
After the confiscation of the cargoes by France, President Madison notified Eng- 
land that if the Orders in Council were not rescinded by February 2, 181 1, the 
Non-Intercourse Act would be enforced against trade with that country. 

In the fall of 181 1 there was an uprising of the Indian tribes in the Ohio 
valley and it was charged that the insurrection was due to British influence, which 
increased the bitter feeling against Great Britain. The Orders in Council had 
not been rescinded and Madison by proclamation reinstated the Non-Intercourse 
Act. In a message to Congress on June 1, 1812, the President referred to the 
"paper blockades" and the "right of search," and recommended a formal declara- 
tion of war. The slogan of the republican party (Madison's party) in the political 
campaign just then opening was "Free trade and sailors' rights." 

War was declared on June 18, 1812, and Congress ordered the regular army 
increased to 25,000 men, gave the President authority to call for 50,000 vol- 
unteers and 100,000 militia. Nearly every one of the Eastern States, by an act 
or resolution of the Legislature, prohibited the militia from going beyond the 
borders of the state. The opposition was greatest in Boston. Concerning the 
attitude of the people of that city, Carey, in his Olive Branch, says: "From the 
moment when war was declared, they clamored for peace and reprobated war as 
wicked, unjust and unnecessary. They made every possible effort to raise obstruc- 
tions and difficulties in the prosecution of the war and yet reprobated the admin- 
istration for their imbecility in carrying it on. They reduced the Government to 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 329 

bankruptcy and reproached it for its necessities and embarrassments. In a word, 
all their movements had but one object — to enfeeble and distract the Govern- 
ment." 

IN NORFOLK COUNTY 

With such an influence as that described by Carey at work in their immediate 
vicinity, it is not surprising that the people of Norfolk County failed to respond 
to the demands and requests of the national administration. However, some of 
the towns stood by the Government of the United States, and so far as possible 
to gather reliable information their work is herein given. 

Samuel A. Bates says that Braintree was opposed to the war, but at a town 
meeting on May 28, 1812, "voted to make each man's pay, with the United States 
pay, fourteen dollars per month, as long as they are out in service." On Sep- 
tember 16, 1814, when the shores of Massachusetts Bay were threatened by a 
British invasion, another Braintree town meeting "voted to add four persons to 
the selectmen, which shall be denominated a Committee of Safety. The selectmen 
at that time consisted of Caleb French, Dr. Jonathan Wild and Maj. Amos 
Stetson. The persons added were Jonas Welch, Capt. Thomas Hollis. Lieut. 
William Reed and Minot Thayer." At the same meeting it was voted "that the 
town raise the sum of $300 to pay the troops, and that we pay the same that 
Randolph, Milton and Quincy pay." Mr. Bates says the only persons from Brain- 
tree, so far as he had been able to learn, who were in the service of the United 
States were John Isaac, Ebenezer Holbrook and James French. 

Brookline stood by the administration better than some of the other towns. A 
company of volunteers was raised, of which Timothy Corey was captain; Robert 
S. Davis, lieutenant; Thomas Griggs, ensign; Daniel Pierce, sergeant. It num- 
bered twenty-seven men in addition to the above named officers and was stationed 
at Fort Independence. Col. Thomas Aspinwall, a Brookline man, commanded a 
brigade and lost his left arm at the storming of Fort Erie, near Buffalo, New 
York, August 15, 18 14. 

In a Canton town meeting on May 4, 1812, six weeks before the formal dec- 
laration of war, it was voted to "make up the pay for persons volunteering to 
fourteen dollars per month, if they go into active service." At another meeting on 
August 15, 1 8 12, it was voted "that such addition be made to the pay of those 
persons who were drafted from this town under the last requisition of the Presi- 
dent of the L T nited States as shall make their monthly pay eighteen dollars." 

On September 12, 18 12, it was ordered that each non-commissioned officer 
and soldier be furnished with sixty rounds of ball cartridges, and directed the 
selectmen to purchase immediately 600 pounds of pork, 200 pounds of beef and 
800 pounds of bread for supplying the militia of the town, when called to defend 
their country, and to procure covered baggage wagons to be in readiness when 
the militia received orders to move. In 1813 Rev. Edward Richmond of Stoughton 
preached the fast day sermon in the Canton church, of which Rev. William Ritchie 
was then pastor, and in his sermon said something about the prosecution of the 
war that did not meet the approbation of the audience. A committee of fifteen, 
appointed for the purpose, made the following report to a town meeting on April 
5,1813: 



330 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

"Gentlemen of the Town — Your committee, appointed to take into considera- 
tion the subject of Rev. Edward Richmond's fast day sermon, have attended to 
the duty assigned them and do recommend that the town pass a vote expressive of 
their disapprobation that the Rev. Edward Richmond should hereafter be intro- 
duced into the Desk of the Canton Meeting House on Lord's Days, Fast Days, 
Thanksgiving Days and Lecture Days, as a teacher of Religious Morality, &c, 
and that the Town Clerk be directed to serve the Rev. William Richey with a copy 
thereof without delay. 

"Elijah Dunbar, per order." 

The record shows that the report was adopted and Mr. Ritchie was probably 
notified. The incident indicates that Canton was in favor of a vigorous prosecu- 
tion of the war. It is to be regretted that the names of the Canton soldiers in the 
War of 1 8 12 cannot be learned, but the only muster rolls are in the custody of 
the war department at Washington. 

In Cohasset a committee of safety was chosen and a coast guard company of 
seventy-five men was organized. A committee was then sent to Boston to ask 
arms and ammunition from the state. Governor Strong was absent and Lieuten- 
ant-Governor Cobb refused the request, recommending to Cohasset men "to hoist 
a white flag." The committee "was too spunky for that" and finally procured some 
muskets and a small field piece. In June, 1814, it was reported in Cohasset that 
a British man-of-war had sent a flotilla of barges to burn the shipping at Scituate 
and was preparing to do the same for Cohasset. Capt. Peter Lothrop was roused 
from his bed by a messenger from Scituate, hurriedly dressed, mounted a horse 
without a saddle and rode through the village awakening the members of his 
company. The citizens worked with the coast guard in throwing up earthworks 
at White Head, and when the British appeared the next morning they found what 
they thought was a large force ready to receive them and withdrew. Militia 
from Weymouth, Hingham and Scituate, with the artillery companies of Abing- 
ton and Hanover marched to Cohasset and for three months the works at White 
Head were occupied by a garrison. 

Dedham refused to join in the opposition to the war and took a decided stand 
in favor of the administration. Boston's communication requesting the Dedham- 
ites to cooperate in measures to handicap the President was "promptly rejected." 
The town voted that every drafted man should receive from its treasury a sum 
sufficient to make his wages fifteen dollars a month while in actual service. Vol- 
unteers were recruited and drilled ; in August some five hundred delegates from 
the towns of the county met in convention at Dedham and adopted resolutions 
expressing their approbation of the war ; the Dedham Light Infantry, under 
Capt. Abner Guild, was on duty at South Boston for several months ; large quan- 
tities of beef and pork were packed in West Dedham by Willard Gay and sent to 
towns along the coast that were blockaded by the enemy. 

Foxboro was one of the towns that sent delegates to. the Dedham convention 
in August, 1812. On July 2nd, several weeks before that convention, the town 
voted "to make up to the soldiers detached from the militia in Foxborough, with 
the government pay, twelve dollars per month for May, June, July, August, Sep- 
tember and October, and ten dollars per month for November, December, January, 
February, March and April, if they are called into active service." 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 331 

On August 22, 1814, it was voted "to make up to the soldiers of the last de- 
tachment, and all who may be detached in Foxborough previous to March next, 
eighteen dollars a month each, and each rive dollars bounty." The bounty part 
was afterward reconsidered. Says E. P. Carpenter, in his centennial address at 
Foxboro, June 29, 1878: "In the absence of statistics showing the number of 
inhabitants of the town at the time, we are led to infer that Foxboro had a large 
representation of soldiers in the War of 1812." 

Sharon furnished twenty-three men as her share of the state's quota of sol- 
diers. They were in different commands, some of them being stationed about 
Boston Harbor, some about the Great Lakes and a few were with the army that 
invaded Canada. 

Many of the young men of Weymouth enlisted for service in the army and 
navy. On May 21, 18 12, before the declaration of war was made by Congress, a 
town meeting voted a bounty of five dollars and ten dollars per month pay while 
in active service to each enlisted soldier credited to the town. On June 30, 18 14, it 
was voted to make the pay of non-commissioned officers and privates fifteen 
dollars per month, "and the same to those called out upon the alarm at Cohasset 
and who remained there until legally dismissed." On November 7, 1814, an ap- 
propriation of $1,200 was voted "to pay the soldiers and build a powder magazine." 

Wrentham sent a few men to the forts about Boston Harbor, but, as in the 
case of the other towns, the muster rolls are all at Washington and it is impossible 
to give the actual number. Dr. James Mann of Wrentham was a surgeon on the 
Niagara frontier and at the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane. 

It is quite probable that some of the other towns sent men to aid in the prose- 
cution of the war. Ebenezer Wilkinson and Daniel Fuller were drafted in Dover, 
and Medway furnished her quota. Ouincy was a strong Federalist town and stood 
with Boston in opposition to the war, though a few men went from the town and 
served at points along the coast. The same is true of Milton and Randolph. 

WAR WITH MEXICO 

The causes of the war between the United States and Mexico go back as far 
as 1810, when the Mexican revolution against Spanish domination was commenced. 
In 1821, after the Mexican Republic was established, Moses Austin obtained per- 
mission from that government to plant a colony in what is now the State of Texas, 
but which then belonged to Mexico. Austin's colonists came from different parts 
of the United States, and it was not long until they grew dissatisfied with Mexican 
rule. The United States offered to purchase the territoy, but all offers were 
rejected. More Americans went into the region and in 1835 they revolted against 
the Mexican government. General Santa Anna, then president of the Mexican 
Republic, led an armed force into Texas to quell the rebellion. His army was de- 
feated by the Americans under Gen. Sam Houston on April 21, 1836, and Santa 
Anna was captured. Houston forced him to sign a treaty recognizing Texas as 
a republic. Houston was elected president. 

The independence of Texas was recognized by the United States and in April, 
1844, the citizens of that country asked to be annexed to the United States. In 
1845 Texas was not only annexed, but in December of that year it was admitted 
into the Union as a state. Then a dispute over the boundaries arose between this 



332 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

country and Mexico, the latter contending that the boundary line was the Nueces 
River, while the Texans claimed the country to the Rio Grande — a claim that was 
supported by the United States authorities. 

On January 13, 1846, President Polk sent Gen. Zachary Taylor, with the 
"Army of Occupation," to the disputed territory, under instructions to hold it 
until the dispute was settled. Mexico sent an army to drive out the invaders. 
The first attack on the American troops was made on April 25, 1846, but it was 
only a slight skirmish. On May 8th Taylor defeated the Mexicans in the battle 
of Palo Alto, and the next day at Resaca de la Palma. War was formally de- 
clared by Congress on May 13, 1846, when the regular army was ordered to be 
increased to 30,000 men and the President was authorized to call for 50,000 
volunteers. 

NORFOLK COUNTY IN THE WAR 

The Mexican war was even more unpopular in New England than the War 
of 1812. The district occupied by General Taylor, which was the cause of the 
controversy, was so far removed that the people took little or no interest in the 
matter. In a general way it is known that a few men volunteered from the County 
of Norfolk, but neither the state nor town authorities appear to have been suf- 
ficiently concerned to preserve a record of such volunteers. Histories of about 
half of the towns in the county have been published, in which no mention what- 
ever is made of the War with Mexico. 

Five men — Charles Andrews, Capt. George Crane, Erastus Prior, William 
Wood and Timothy Wiggin — enlisted in Col. Caleb Cushing's regiment. Captain 
Crane had previously been captain of the Quincy Light Infantry. Colonel Cushing 
was a member of the same family as the Weymouth Cushings, several of whom 
enlisted from that town in the Civil war. 

Brookline sent a few volunteers under Colonel Mansfield, but no record of 
their services can be found. Colonel Mansfield was commissioned brigadier-gen- 
eral soon after the beginning of the Civil war and was killed at the battle of Antie- 
tam in September, 1862. 

So far as known, Henry Hunnewell was the only man to enlist from the Town 
of Foxboro in Colonel Cushing's regiment. Medfield had organized a militia com- 
pany in 1839 and a few of its members joined Colonel Cushing's command for 
service in the war. It is probable that, all told, Norfolk County did not furnish 
more than fifty men. The war ended with the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Feb- 
ruary 2, 1848. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 
WAR OF THE REBELLION 

THE SLAVERY QUESTION CONDITIONS IN l8lO. THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF i860 SECESSION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES — STAR OF 

THE WEST FALL OF FORT SUMTER — LINCOLN'S PROCLAMATION CALLING FOR 

TROOPS ANSWER OF MASSACHUSETTS WHAT THE TOWNS DID RECAPITULA- 
TION. 

Almost from the very beginning of the American Republic, the slavery ques- 
tion became a dominant issue in politics between the free states on the one side 
and the slave states on the other. Slavery was introduced into America in 1619, 
when a Dutch trader sold a few negroes to the planters of the Jamestown colony. 
The custom of owning negro slaves gradually spread to the other colonies, but 
slave labor was found to be unprofitable in the northern part of the country and 
by 1819 seven of the original thirteen states had made provisions for the emancipa- 
tion of their slaves. 

The first clause of Section 9, Article I, of the Federal Constitution provides 
that "The migration or importation of such persons as any of the states now exist- 
ing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by Congress prior to the 
year 1808." 

The adoption of this clause was regarded by the slaveholding element as a 
victory, inasmuch as under it Congress had no power to interfere with the foreign 
slave trade until 1808. In that year Congress passed an act prohibiting any 
further traffic in or importation of negro slaves. Then the slavery question was 
injected into American politics. 

CONDITIONS IN 1819 

In 1819 slavery existed in six of the original thirteen states, the other seven 
having abolished it as already stated. In the meantime Kentucky, Tennessee, 
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama had been admitted into the Union under con- 
stitutions permitting slavery, while Vermont, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois had been 
admitted as free states, so that the country was evenly divided — eleven free and 
eleven slave states. Maine was admitted as a free state in 1820, giving the oppo- 
nents of slavery a majority of two in the United States Senate. 

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 

Immediately upon the admission of Maine, the advocates of slavery sought to 
have Missouri admitted as a slave state, in order to maintain the equilibrium in 

333 



334 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the United States Senate, as it had been for the past decade. After a long and 
somewhat acrimonious debate, that state was admitted in 1821 under the act known 
as the Missouri Compromise, which provided for the admission of Missouri with- 
out any restrictions as to slavery, but expressly stipulated that "in all the remaining 
portion of the Louisiana Purchase, north of the line of 36 30', slavery shall be 
forever prohibited." 

During the next quarter of a century the slavery question remained com- 
paratively quiet, owing to the admission of free and slave states in equal number. 
At the conclusion of the Mexican war in 1848, the United States came into posses- 
sion of a large expanse of country in the Southwest, to which the advocates of 
slavery immediately laid claim, and again the slavery question came up as a subject 
for congressional consideration. The passage of the compromise act, usually 
called the "Omnibus Bill," was held by the free-state people as a violation of the 
provisions of the Missouri Compromise, because it sought to carry slavery north of 
the line of 36 30'. Four years later the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was passed, which 
added fresh fuel to the already raging flames. Its passage was the chief cause of 
the organization of the republican party, which opposed the extension of slavery 
to any of the new territory of the United States whatever. 

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF i860 

In i860 the newly organized republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln of 
Illinois as its candidate for the Presidency and the issues were clearly defined. 
Some of the slave states announced during the campaign that in the event of Mr. 
Lincoln's election they would withdraw from the Union. The people of the North 
gave little heed to these declarations, regarding them as so many idle threats, 
made merely for political effect. Through a division in the democratic party, Mr. 
Lincoln was elected and on December 20, i860, South Carolina carried her threat 
into effect, when a state convention at Charleston passed an ordinance of secession, 
declaring that state's connection with the Union was severed and that all allegiance 
to the United States Government was at an end. 

Mississippi followed with a similar ordinance on January 9, 1861 ; Florida 
seceded on January 10th ; Alabama, January nth; Georgia, January 19th; Louisi- 
ana, January 26th ; and Texas on February 1st. All these states except Texas sent 
delegates to a convention at Montgomery, Alabama, February 4, 1861, at which a 
tentative constitution was adopted ; Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected 
provisional president; and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, provisional vice 
president of the Confederate States of America. They were inaugurated on 
February 22, 1861, the anniversary of the birth of George Washington. Conse- 
quently, when Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861, he found seven 
states in open rebellion, with an organized government, in opposition to his admin- 
istration. Notwithstanding this state of affairs, the President, his cabinet and the 
people of the North generally, clung to the hope that a reconciliation could be 
effected and that the citizens of the seceded states could be induced to return to 
their allegiance. In that hope they were doomed to be disappointed. 

STAR OF THE WEST 

More than two months before Mr. Lincoln's inauguration the relations between 
the North and South were still further strained by the action of Maj. Robert 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 335 

Anderson, who was in command of the defenses of the Harbor of Charleston, 
South Carolina. Major Anderson, about the beginning of the year 1861, secretly 
removed his garrison and supplies from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, because 
the latter could be more easily defended in case of an assault. The people of the 
South claimed that this move was in direct violation of an agreement with Presi- 
dent Buchanan, and the feeling was intensified when it was learned that Major 
Anderson, upon leaving Fort Moultrie, had spiked the guns there, rendering them 
useless. The northern press was practically unanimous in upholding Major Ander- 
son, and in demanding that additional supplies and reinforcements be sent to him 
at Fort Sumter. The persistent hammering of the newspapers of the North 
caused the war department to despatch the steamer "Star of the West" with 250 
men and a stock of ammunition and provisions to Fort Sumter. While this vessel 
was passing Morris Island on January 9, 1861, she was fired upon by a masked 
battery and forced to turn back. In the official records, this incident is regarded as 
the beginning of the Civil war, though the popular awakening of the North did not 
come until about three months later. 

FALL OF FORT SUMTER 

Toward the close of March, 1861, General Beauregard, who was in command 
of the Confederate forces at Charleston, made a formal demand upon Major 
Anderson for the surrender of the fort. Anderson refused, but on April 11, 1861, 
seeing that his stock of provisions was running low and being uncertain of obtain- 
ing a new supply, he informed General Beauregard that the fort would be vacated 
on the 15th, "unless ordered to remain and the needed supplies are received." This 
reply did not please the Confederate commander, who feared that the new admin- 
istration would find some way of sending supplies and reinforcements to Anderson 
that would enable him to hold the fort indefinitely. In such a case, Fort Sumter 
would be a constant menace to one of the greatest of the Confederate strongholds. 
Beauregard called a council of his officers, at which it was determined to force 
Anderson to evacuate. At 3:20 A. M., April 12, 1861, Beauregard sent word to 
Anderson that fire would be opened upon the fort within an hour, unless in the 
meantime a promise that the fort would be immediately abandoned was received. 
Major Anderson ignored the communication and at 4:30 Capt. George Janes fired 
the signal gun from Fort Johnson, the shell bursting almost directly over the fort. 
A few seconds later a solid shot from the battery on Cummings' Point went 
crashing against the walls of Sumter. The war had begun. 

Anderson's little band of heroes responded promptly and the cannonading 
continued all day. Late in the afternoon fire broke out in one of the casemates of 
the fort and the Confederates redoubled their fire, hoping to force Anderson's 
surrender. That was on Friday. Anderson held out against desperate odds until 
Sunday, the 14th, when he was permitted to withdraw from the fort with all the 
honors of war, even to saluting his flag with fifty guns before it was taken down. 

When the telegraph flashed the news of Sumter's fate through the loyal states 
of the North, all hope of bringing about a peaceable settlement of the differences 
between the two sections of the country was abandoned. Party lines were oblit- 
erated in the North ; political controversies of the past were all forgotten in the 
insult to the flag ; and there was but one sentiment — The Union must and shall be 



336 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

preserved. On Monday, April 15, 1861, the day following the evacuation of Fort 
Sumter, President Lincoln issued the following 

PROCLAMATION 

"Whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some time past and now 
are opposed and the execution thereof obstructed in the states of South Carolina, 
Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, by combinations too' 
powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by 
the powers vested in the marshals by law : 

"Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in 
virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the Laws, have thought 
tit to call forth, and do hereby call forth, the militia of the several states of the 
Union to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said 
combinations and cause the laws to be fully executed. 

"The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the state 
authorities through the War Department. 

"I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort to main- 
tain the honor, the integrity and the existence of our National Union and the 
perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs already too long endured. 

"I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby 
called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places and property which 
have been seized from the Union ; and in every event the utmost care will be 
observed, consistent with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any 
destruction of, or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful 
citizens in any part of the country. 

"And I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid 
to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days 
from this date. 

"Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraor- 
dinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Consti- 
tution, convene both houses of Congress. Senators and Representatives are 
therefore summoned to assemble at their respective chambers at twelve o'clock, 
noon, on Thursday, the 4th day of July next, then and there to consider and 
determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and interest may 
seem to demand. 

"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the 
United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington this 15th day of 
April, A. D. 1 861, and of the Independence of the United States, the 85th. 

"Abraham Lincoln 
"By the President : 
"W. H. Seward, Secretary of State." 

ANSWER OF MASSACHUSETTS 

On April 15, 1861, the same day the President's proclamation was promul- 
gated. Gov. John A. Andrew received a telegram from the war department ask- 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 337 

ing him to forward 1,500 men to Washington, or wherever they might be 
ordered. The order was transmitted to the various militia commands of the 
state and the next morning the troops began pouring into Boston. The first to 
arrive were three companies from Marblehead. of the Eighth Regiment. Then 
came the companies of the Fourth Regiment from Norfolk, Plymouth and 
Bristol counties. They were quickly followed by the Fifth Regiment and by six 
o'clock on the afternoon of the 16th three regiments were ready to go, while new 
companies were forming in all parts of the state. Such was the response of 
the Old Bay State to the first call for men to uphold the constitution and laws 
of the United States when threatened by secession. 

The Fourth Regiment, Massachusetts militia, was commanded by Col. Abner 
B. Packard of Quincy. As soon as he received the call he sent word to all the 
company commanders to assemble their men at once and report on Boston 
Common at noon on the 16th. The captains of the companies sent messengers 
to the men and 'at the appointed time practically the entire regiment was in 
Boston, but the meeting place was changed to Faneuil Hall instead of the 
Common. 

Company D of this regiment was composed chiefly of citizens of the Town 
of Randolph. It was organized in 1855 as the Randolph Light Infantry, with 
Hiram C. Alden as its first captain. When the order for mobilization was issued 
on the afternoon of April 15, 1861, it was discovered that this company had no 
commissioned officers, so the order was sent to Sergt. Hiram F. Wales, who 
spent the whole night in notifying the men, with the result that "every man was 
at his post" on the following day. Upon reaching Boston, Horace Niles was 
elected captain ; Otis S. Wilbur, first lieutenant ; Hiram F. Wales, second lieu- 
tenant. 

Company F was a Foxboro organization, which had been in existence since 
it was first formed under the act of January 22, 1776. At the time the first call 
for troops was issued in 1861 it claimed to hold the oldest charter of any military 
company in the state. David L. Shepard was captain in April, 1861 ; Moses A. 
Richardson, first lieutenant ; Carlos A. Hart, second lieutenant. Alvin E. Hall, 
a Foxboro man, was sergeant-major of the regiment. 

Company H came from Quincy. Of this company Franklin Curtis was 
captain; Edward A. Spear, first lieutenant; Benjamin F. Meservey, second lieu- 
tenant. This company was known as the Hancock Light Guard, so named in 
honor of John Hancock, while the Foxboro company bore the name of the War- 
ren Light Guard, as a tribute to Gen. Joseph Warren, who fell at Bunker Hill. 

The Fourth Regiment was ready to start for the front on the 16th, but no 
transportation could be furnished until the following day. The men spent the 
night in Faneuil Hall and on the 17th left for the seat of war — the first regiment 
to leave Massachusetts. At Fall River the regiment embarked upon the steamer 
"State of Maine" and late on the 17th arrived in New York. The vessel was 
not properly ballasted and Colonel Packard telegraphed Governor Andrew for 
instructions. The governor replied: "If the captain says he can carry your 
men, go on. Massachusetts must be first on the ground." After a little delay 
in ballasting the boat, the journey was continued and on the 20th the regiment 
reported for duty at Fortress Monroe. 



338 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

WHAT THE TOWNS DID 

Seven of the Norfolk County towns have been organized since the close of 
the Civil war. viz. : Holbrook, Millis, Norfolk, Norwood, Plainville, Wellesley 
and Westwood. Their military history is therefore embraced in that of the 
towns from which they were taken. 

Bellingham's first act was to appropriate $2,000 for the purpose of fitting 
out and drilling the men who enlisted. In July, 1862, the town offered a bounty 
of $100 to every man who would volunteer, until the quota of seventeen men 
was obtained, and ten dollars additional to every one who enlisted within ten 
days. The following month came the call for volunteers for nine months and 
the town offered a bounty of $200, those enlisting for three years to receive $700. 
In September, 1862, the sum of $5,000 was voted to pay the town's volunteer 
soldiers. Early in the year 1865, only a short time before the close of the war, 
the town expended $1,000 in caring for the families of men in service. Out of 
a total of 169 men subject to military duty, the town sent thirty-three men into 
the army. 

Braintree was one of the first towns in the county to respond to the call for 
troops in 1861. The Braintree Light Infantry reported at Boston on April 16, 
1861, and was mustered in as Company C, Fourth Regiment, with Cephas C. 
Bumpus. captain ; James T. Stevens, first lieutenant ; Isaac P. Fuller, second 
lieutenant. It accompanied the regiment to Fortress Monroe the next day. 
At a town meeting on April 26, 1861, the sum of $1,500, "or such part thereof 
as might be necessary," was appropriated for the relief of soldiers' families. 
Without following in detail the numerous appropriations made for bounties and 
aid for soldiers' families, it is sufficient to say that during the war the town ex- 
pended a total of $27,930.51, exclusive of the sum later refunded by the state. 
The town furnished 508 men to the army and navy under all calls. 

Brookline's contribution to the army and navy was 610 men. Col. Theodore 
Lyman of this town was an officer on the staff of Gen. George G. Meade. On 
the memorial tablets in the town hall are the names of seventy-two men who 
were killed in action or died of wounds or disease while they were in the service 
of their country. Figures are wanting to show how much the town expended 
for bounties and soldiers' aid during the war, but it is well known that Brook- 
line did her part. 

Canton furnished 350 men for military service, which was twenty-three in 
excess of her quota. The total population in i860 was 3,342, hence it may be 
seen that more than ten per cent answered their country's call. At a meeting 
held on April 29th it was voted "to provide all suitable and necessary aid to 
families of volunteers living in the town." How much was expended under this 
somewhat indefinite order it would be impossible to say. but the total amount of 
money raised and expended for military purposes and aid was $30,415.71, of 
which the state afterward refunded $13,020.75. Thirty-five of Canton's sons 
lost their lives during the conflict. 

Cohasset was represented in the Fourth Regiment, the first to be ordered to 
the front, and from that time until the last call for volunteers she was ready 
with her quota. Three commissioned officers and 187 enlisted men were the 
town's contribution to the army and navy, and the total amount of money raised 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 339 

and expended was $33,330.61, though $15,928.74 of this was afterward refunded 
by the state. 

Dedham had no militia company in April, 1861, when President Lincoln 
issued his call for 75,000 men, but the young men of the town lost no time in 
organizing one, in anticipation that a second call would be made. In August, 
1861, this company was mustered into the United States service as Company F, 
Eighteenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The officers of the company 
were: Henry Onion, captain; Charles W. Carroll, first lieutenant; Fisher A. 
Baker, second lieutenant. Nine Dedham men were enrolled in Company H of 
the same regiment. From that time to the close of the war, the muster rolls of 
the army bore the names of 672 Dedham men, and the town raised and expended 
a total of $136,090.81, of which the state subsequently refunded $51,000. The 
tablets in the Memorial Hall bear the names of forty-seven who sacrificed their 
lives upon the altar of their country. Of these forty-seven twenty-nine were 
killed in action or died of wounds. 

Dover was one of the smallest towns in the county in population and wealth 
in i860, but she sent forty-four volunteers into the army and made generous 
appropriations for the care of soldiers' families, though the exact amount of 
these appropriations cannot be ascertained. Sixteen of the forty-four volun- 
teers that went out from Dover never returned to their homes. 

Foxboro, as already stated, furnished a company to the Fourth Regiment — 
the first to leave the state. But the town did not stop with that one company. 
A number of Foxboro men were enrolled in the Eighteenth Infantry, which was 
mustered in for three years on August 27, 1861, and the town was also repre- 
sented in the Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, Twenty-third, 
Twenty-fourth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, Thirty- 
second, Thirty-third, Thirty-fifth, Thirty-eighth, Fortieth, Forty-seventh, Fifty- 
fourth, Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Infantry; the Second. Third and 
Fourth Cavalry ; and furnished nineteen men to the artillery arm of the service. 
Eleven Foxboro men served in the regular army, two in the navy, and it is 
known that twenty citizens volunteered in organizations in other towns and were 
not credited to Foxboro as they should have been. The amount expended for 
bounties and enlistment expenses was $21,742.48, in addition to which over seven 
thousand dollars were raised by private subscription. 

Franklin did not get in on the first call for troops, but under the s.econd its 
quota was twenty-three men and thirty-six responded. On the announcement 
that only twenty-three were wanted, one of the extra thirteen answered: "Well, 
we will all go, if we have to go on foot and alone." The thirty-six men became 
part of Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment, of which Lewis R. Whitaker of 
Franklin was commissioned second lieutenant. A similar thing happened under 
the call of August, 1862, when the town's quota was thirty-four and forty-three 
enlisted. Altogether, 218 Franklin boys "wore the loyal blue." Individual citi- 
zens gave liberally to the bounty fund and to aid soldiers' families, and the 
town was not niggardly in its appropriations, though just how much was appro- 
priated cannot be learned. 

Medfield furnished eighty-two men for the army and navy and appropriated 
at different times a total of $5,571 on account of the war. Private subscriptions 
for the relief of soldiers' families amounted to nearly as much more. The first 



340 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

volunteer from Medfield was Allen A. Kingsbury. The morning after the news 
of the attack upon a Massachusetts regiment by a mob at Baltimore, Maryland, 
he went to Chelsea and enlisted in a company that was being organized there. 
Of the eighty-two men who went out from Medfield, fourteen never returned. 

Medway. which then included the present Town of Millis, sent 384 men into 
the ranks from the beginning to the end of the war. In 1862 a town meeting 
adopted a resolution to have prepared an accurate record of each soldier credited 
to the town. This was about a year before the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
began the work of compiling complete data regarding the state's volunteers, and 
it is believed to have been the first action of the kind taken within the state. As 
a result of this resolution, Medway has a brief biographical sketch of every 
soldier she sent to the field under the various calls of the President — a total of 
384, including a small number of reenlistments. The town also furnished money 
to relieve sick and disabled soldiers, pay bounties to volunteers and care for the 
families of those who enlisted. 

Milton's war records are unfortunately scant, both with regard to the number 
of men furnished and the amount of money appropriated for military purposes. 
H. B. Martin some years ago collected the names of 157 volunteers credited to 
Milton, but it is a well established fact that at least one hundred Milton men 
enlisted in organizations outside their town and their enlistments credited else- 
where. Louis N. Tucker, regarded as the best drill-master in Boston at rile 
breaking out of the war, was a Milton boy, as was also James S. Reed, the best 
drill-master in San Francisco. After preparing hundreds of raw recruits for 
real service these two men went to the front themselves. One died upon the 
field and the other was wounded. 

Needham kept step with the other towns of the county, both in men and 
money. From first to last the town is credited with having furnished 308 men, 
distributed through twenty-seven infantry regiments, four regiments of heavy 
artillery, five regiments of cavalry, three field batteries and the navy. On April 
29, 1861, it was voted that fifteen dollars per month be paid to each volunteer 
from the town, for a period of six months. At the same meeting it was decided 
to establish a "military committee," to assume general supervision of the forma- 
tion of a company, render such assistance as may be required to those having 
charge of procuring volunteers, investigate the condition of soldiers' families, etc. 
The committee was composed of E. K. Whitaker, C. B. Patten, Calvin Perry and 
Benjamin G. Kimball. Some changes were made in the personnel of the com- 
mittee, but it remained in existence until the close of the war and exercised a 
general control over the expenditures of appropriations, etc. 

Quincy was the banner town of the county, both in the number of soldiers 
furnished to the army and the promptness with which the town responded to 
every call for volunteers. At the beginning of the war the population was about 
six thousand seven hundred, of whom probably twenty-two hundred were capable 
of bearing arms. Of these, 954 entered the army or navy — over forty per cent 
of those liable for military duty. About fifty thousand dollars was appropriated 
by the town or raised by subscription for military and relief work. 

Mention has already been made of Randolph's part under the call of April 
15, 1861, and how Sergeant Wales worked all night to notify the members of 
the Randolph Light Infantry. Under the call of July 4, 1862, for 300,000 men 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 341 

for three years or during the war, sixty-two citizens of Randolph placed their 
names upon the muster roll of Company E, Thirty-fifth Infantry. Upon the 
organization of the company Horace Niles, who had served as captain in the 
Fourth Regiment during the three months' service, was chosen captain ; Jona- 
than W. Ingell, first lieutenant ; William Palmer, second lieutenant. Captain 
Niles died on September 2"], 1862, of wounds received at the battle of South 
Mountain on the 14th. Altogether, the town, which included the present Town 
of Holbrook, furnished 919 men, though several of these should have been 
credited to Milton. Eighty-one of those who went out never came back. No 
statistics are at hand to show how much money Randolph paid in bounties and in 
relief work, but in this respect the town was not a laggard. 

Sharon's enrollment was 127, really a few more than the town was required 
to furnish. In addition to this, several patriotic citizens employed soldiers at 
their own personal expense. Appropriations were made from time to time to 
pay bounties and provide for the families of those who were at the front. 

Stoughton's story of the part she played in the Civil war is soon told. She 
furnished fifteen commissioned officers and 507 enlisted men to all branches of 
the military service, and expended $119,524.67, but of this amount the town 
afterward received from the state the sum of $39,652.12. The muster rolls of 
Stoughton's soldiers were destroyed by fire a few years after the war. 

Walpole furnished 115 men for the three years' service, thirty-one men for 
nine months, twenty-one joined the navy, and when the call for 100 days' men 
came toward the close of the war, eight citizens of the town responded, making a 
total of 175. Besides this number a few Walpole men are known to have enlisted 
in regiments credited to other states. David W. Lewis, a Walpole man, was a 
captain in the Ninth Vermont, and Henry L. Godbold was a first lieutenant in the 
First Pennsylvania Artillery. The town also did its share in appropriations of 
money for military purposes and the relief of soldiers' families. On the memorial 
tablets in the town house are the names of those who died in service. 

Some years ago Gilbert Nash compiled a list of the Weymouth soldiers in 
the War of the Rebellion. He prefaces the list with the following statement: 
"The following record of soldiers sent by the Town of Weymouth, Massachu- 
setts, into the Union service during the great Rebellion of 1861-65, with the 
exception of a few errors corrected by the compiler, is taken chiefly from the 
town archives, kept in accordance with acts of the Massachusetts Legislature, 
approved March 7 and April 29, 1863, and is believed to be substantially correct." 
Mr. Nash's list contains 801 names. James L. Bates rose to the rank of 
brigadier-general; Benjamin F. Pratt was brevetted brigadier-general; Eliot C. 
Pierce was major in the Thirteenth Infantry; Ephraim L. Warren, major in the 
Twenty-second Infantry; Francis A. Bicknell, major in the Thirty-fifth Infan- 
try ; six Weymouth men held commissions as captains ; seventeen as lieutenants ; 
eighty-one served as non-commissioned officers ; and twenty-three were in the 
navy. Ira W. Bragg, a surgeon in the navy, died while in service. Those who 
remained at home did their part in appropriating money for raising and equipping 
soldiers and in providing for the necessities of their families. 

Wrentham's contribution to the Union army consisted of 242 men who 
served in Massachusetts regiments, five in other states, and eight in the navy, a 



342 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

total of 255 men. On May 6, 1861, a town meeting was held at which the 
following resolutions were adopted without a dissenting vote : 

"Resolved, by the legal voters of the Town of Wrentham, in town meeting 
assembled, that the sum of ten thousand dollars be and the same is hereby 
granted for the support, encouragement and relief of those of our fellow-towns- 
men who have gone and of those who may hereafter go into the service of the 
United States as soldiers, and of their families. 

"Resolved, that the money thus appropriated be expended by the selectmen, 
to be assisted by a committee of three, if necessary, of whom the treasurer 
shall be one. 

"Resolved, that each volunteer shall receive from the town while in active 
service an amount sufficient, with the government pay, to make his monthly pay 
twenty-five dollars ; and the further sum of one dollar per week be paid to the 
wife and for each child under fifteen years of age, and one dollar a day for each 
day spent in drilling previous to being mustered into the United States service. 

"Resolved, to provide suitable uniforms and all necessary equipments and 
clothing not provided by the government, to each citizen of Wrentham who shall 
enlist in the military service. 

"Resolved, that the treasurer be authorized to borrow on the credit of the 
town such sums of money as shall be ordered by the selectmen, not exceeding 
ten thousand dollars." 

The appropriation of ten thousand dollars authorized by these resolutions 
was only the beginning. Before the close of the war Wrentham had expended 
$31,531.23, a portion of which was afterward refunded by the state. 

RECAPITULATION 

According to the United States census for i860, the population of Norfolk 
County was then 109,950. The first regiments were mustered into the United 
States service for three months only, the general impression then being that the 
war would not last beyond that time. After these regiments were mustered out, 
many of the men who had served in them entered the three years' service. The 
names of such men appear more than once upon the muster rolls. Including 
these reenlistments the county sent 7,750 men into the army and navy, distributed 
among the several towns as follows : 

Bellingham ^^ 

Braintree 508 

Brookline 610 

Canton 350 

Cohasset 190 

Dedham 672 

Dover h 44 

Foxboro 341 

Franklin 218 

Medfield 82 

Medway 384 

Milton 257 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 343 

Needham 308 

Quincy 954 

Randolph 919 

Sharon 127 

Stoughton 522 

Walpole 175 

Weymouth 801 

Wrentham 255 

Total 7750 

Norfolk County soldiers were in the early battles of the war; they were with 
Sherman on the Atlanta campaign and the famous "March to the sea"; they 
assisted in the siege of Petersburg and the capture of Lee at Appomattox ; they 
were with Farragut at Mobile, and wherever they went they gave a good account 
of themselves. After the war they returned to their homes and resumed their 
peaceful occupations, demonstrating to the world that a republic could rely upon 
its citizen soldiery when the country's institutions were assailed. 



CHAPTER XL 
FINANCIAL HISTORY 

COUNTY FINANCES RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES — ASSETS AND LIABILITIES 

BANKING INSTITUTIONS — THE LAND BANK NORFOLK COUNTY BANKS — 

SKETCHES OF BANKS IN THE ORDER OF THEIR ESTABLISHMENT COOPERATIVE 

BANKS — NORWOOD'S MORRIS PLAN BANK. 

In the chapters relating to the various towns mention is made of the property- 
valuation and other financial matters, and in this chapter is treated the financial 
condition of the county. Norfolk County has been fortunate during the two and 
a quarter centuries of her corporate existence in having men of integrity to 
manage her financial affairs. Debts have been incurred from time to time, but 
in every instance it was for some necessary public improvement, and the bonds 
issued have been promptly taken care of at maturity, except in rare cases where 
they have been refunded by a new issue. 

According to the report of the county treasurer for the year ending on 
December 31, 1916, the total annual receipts of the county amounted to 
$700,663.15. The principal sources of revenue were from the county tax levied 
upon the several towns and the City of Ouincy and from temporary loans in 
anticipation of the year's taxes. Of the county tax, the largest sum was paid 
by the Town of Brookline and the smallest by the Town of Plainville. The 
former paid $115,290.85 and the latter $875.14. The temporary loans aggregated 
$225,000 and the county tax $295,000. On the other side of the account, the ex- 
penditures for the year were as follows : 

Highways, bridges, etc $ 70,316.45 

Courts 40,808. 1 1 

Reduction in county debt 32,000.00 

Jails and houses of correction 28,190.99 

Salaries of county officers and ass'ts 21,345.51 

Court expenses (civil) 20,263.43 

Criminal costs in Superior Court 17,678.54 

Care and supplies, county buildings 28,182.84 

Interest on county debt 10,162.99 

Agricultural school 8,400.00 

Clerical assistance, county offices 27,383.16 

All other expenses 29,139.89 

Total $333,871-91 

344 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 345 

In this table temporary loans are not included, though they were repaid 
during the year. As to the actual financial standing of the county at the close of 
the year 1916, the following statements of assets and liabilities are taken from the 
report of the county commissioners. In the case of public buildings, the site and 
fixtures are included in the figures given : 

ASSETS 

Courthouse, Dedham $ 402,000.00 

Courthouse, Quincy 100,000.00 

Registry Building, Dedham 298,000.00 

Jail, Dedham 333,500.00 

Real estate, Dedham 4,300.00 

Agricultural school 75,000.00 

Training school, Walpole 25,500.00 

Law library, Dedham 40,000.00 

Furniture (not included in above) 120,000.00 

Cash in treasury, December 31, 1916 17,148.82 

Total $1,415,448.82 

LIABILITIES 

Registry Building loan $ 91,382.98 

Quincy Courthouse loan 32,000.00 

Agricultural School loan 75,000.00 

Granite Avenue Bridge loan 30,000.00 

Neponset Bridge loan 22,630.00 



Total $251,012.98 

By a comparison of these two tables it will readily be seen that the county, in 
its corporate capacity, holds more than five and a half dollars in assets for every 
dollar of liabilities. Provisions have been made for the payment of the county 
debt annually, the amount of the annual payment decreasing from $39,680 in 
I9 T 7 to $550 in 1933. 

BANKING INSTITUTIONS 

One of the earliest banking concerns — if not the first — in Massachusetts was 
the Land Bank, which was proposed in 17 14 but seems not to have been placed in 
operation until 1739. For eight or ten years before the latter date the General 
Court had been issuing bills of credit for current expenses, the issue of 1741 
amounting to about forty thousand pounds. It was then proposed to borrow in 
Fngland a sum in specie equal to the outstanding bills of credit and pay the debt. 
Then the Land Bank came forward with the proposition to give credit for £150,000. 
The bank was composed of over seven hundred stockholders, each one of which 
was to mortgage land equal to the amount of his stock, and no personal security 
for more than £100 was accepted. 



346 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

The scheme looked plausible enough, but it failed to work in practice. Men 
of standing in business circles refused to receive the bills issued by the bank and 
it was not long until the institution was in deep water. At a town meeting in 
Dedham in 1740 the question came up as to whether the constables should be in- 
structed to receive Land Bank bills. A majority voted in the affirmative, but eight 
men entered a protest and insisted upon having their objections made a matter 
of record. The refusal of merchants and manufacturers to receive the bills soon 
sounded the knell of the Land Bank. Hutchinson, in his History of Massachu- 
setts, says it "produced such great and lasting mischiefs that a particular relation 
of the rise, progress and overthrow of it may be of use to discourage and prevent 
any attempts of the like nature in future ages." 

NORFOLK COUNTY BANKS 

In July, 19 1 7, there were thirty-eight banking institutions in Norfolk County. 
To attempt to give a detailed history of each of these banks, their changes of 
location, lists of officers and directors, etc., is deemed inadvisable in a historical 
work of this nature, but the following brief sketches give the principal points in 
the career of each, and will give the reader a fair idea of the county's banking 
business for the last century. 

The oldest bank in the county is the Dedham National, which was organized 
on March 21, 1814, at a meeting held at Martin Marsh's Tavern, on Court street. 
It was organized as a state bank and on the 25th Willard Gay was elected presi- 
dent and Jabez Chickering, cashier. The bank began business in two rooms in 
the north end of the house of Capt. Nathaniel Guild, where a stone vault six by 
eight feet and seven feet in height was built for the bank's use. The first issue 
of bills was made on April 28, 181 5, in denominations of five, six, seven and eight 
dollars, "all to be printed with stereotype plates." The bank started with a cap- 
ital stock of $50,000 and on October 20, 181 5. declared its first dividend of 4 per 
cent. The stock was gradually increased to $300,000. 

On February 1, 1865, the institution was reorganized as a national bank, with 
Dr. Jeremy Stimson as president and Lewis H. Kingsbury as cashier. In August, 
1892, it removed to its present quarters in the building of the Dedham Institution 
for Savings, and on July 11, 1912, opened its safe deposit vaults. On July 6, 
191 1, the capital stock was reduced from $300,000 to $150,000, where it has since 
remained. At the beginning of the year 1917 the Dedham National reported a 
fund of $150,000 in surplus and undivided profits, and deposits of $540,000. 
Allan Forbes was then president and E. A. Brooks cashier. 

In 1 83 1 the Dedham Institution for Savings was incorporated, with Rev. 
Ebenezer Burgess as president and Jonathan H. Cobb as treasurer. The institu- 
tion began business on May 4, 1831, and Mr. Burgess remained at its head until 
December 7, 1870. At the beginning of the year 191 7 Clifton P. Baker was 
president and Joseph H. Solliday was treasurer. The institution then reported 
an undivided profits fund of $180,000 and deposits of $4,300,000. It erected the 
building opposite Memorial Hall in 1892. 

The Union Bank of Weymouth and Braintree was incorporated on March 17, 
1832, and began business at Weymouth Landing on the nth of April, with Josiah 
Vinton, Jr., as president. Its original capital stock was $100,000. On Septem- 




DEDHAM NATIONAL BAN 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 347 

ber 6, 1864, it was reorganized as the Union National Bank of Weymouth and 
the capital stock was afterward increased to $400,000. After a fairly successful 
career as a national bank for more than a quarter of a century it wound up its 
affairs and went out of business. 

In 1832 the Blue Hill National Bank of Milton was incorporated under the 
state laws as the '"Dorchester and Milton Bank," with a capital stock of $100,000. 
It was at first located in the Town of Dorchester. In 1850 the bank was burg- 
larized by the notorious Jack Wade gang and robbed of about thirty thousand 
dollars. The next year the name was changed to "Blue Hill Bank." In Decem- 
ber, 1864, it was reorganized as the Blue Hill National B'ank and in 1882, under 
a special act of Congress, it removed from Dorchester to Milton. The first pres- 
ident of the bank was Moses Whitney, who served from 1832 to 1848. At the 
beginning of the year 1917 the officers were: Robert F. Herrick, president; Jesse 
B. Baxter, vice president ; S. J. Willis, cashier. At that time the bank reported 
a capital stock of $100,000; surplus and undivided profits, $90,000, deposits, 
$525,000. 

Another bank organized in 1832 was the Bank of Wrentham, which was in- 
corporated under the state laws with a capital stock of $100,000. Philo Sanford 
was the first president and Calvin Fisher, Jr., its first cashier. Some years ago 
it was reorganized as the "National Bank of Wrentham." H. A. Crowell was 
president of the bank at the beginning of 191 7, and J. E. Carpenter was cashier. 
The capital stock at that time was $52,500; surplus and undivided profits, 
$28,000; deposits, $75,000. 

The Weymouth and Braintree Institution for Savings was incorporated on 
February 16, 1833, by Asa Webb, Whitcomb Porter and Warren Weston. It 
did not begin business until about a year after its incorporation, when it opened 
with Dr. Noah Fifield as the first president. This bank is now known as the 
Weymouth Savings Bank, and at the close of the year 1916 reported surplus and 
undivided profits amounting to $140,000 and deposits of $700,000. C. A. Hay- 
ward was then president ; F. W. Hunt and J. H. Flint, vice presidents ; Charles 
F. Crane, treasurer. 

On March 4, 1835, an act of the Legislature incorporated the Canton Institu- 
tion for Savings, with Thomas French, president; Friend Crane and Jonathan 
Stone, vice presidents ; James Dunbar, secretary and treasurer. This concern 
has done a successful business for more than eighty years. Its officers at the 
beginning of the year 1917 were: F. D. Dunbar, president; A. E. French and 
E. H. R. Revere, vice presidents ; Walter Ames, treasurer. At that time the 
surplus and undivided profits amounted to $100,000 and the deposits to $940,000. 

The Neponset Bank of Canton was incorporated on the last day of March, 
1836, with Frederic W. Lincoln as president and James Dunbar as cashier. On 
March 1, 1865, it was reorganized as the Neponset National Bank, with Charles 
H. French as president and Francis W. Deane as cashier. Subsequently the 
capital stock was increased to $250,000. 

The Neponset National Bank has been succeeded by the Canton Trust Com- 
pany, which was organized in 1896, with a capital stock of $100,000. On March 
10, 1 917, it removed into its new building near the railroad station. Guy A. Ham 
was then president and J. H. Landick, cashier. The deposits then amounted to 
$225,000. 



348 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

In 1836 Quincy's first bank — the Stone Bank — was organized under the laws 
of the state. In 1864 it was reorganized as the National Granite Bank of Quincy, 
and still later as the Granite Trust Company, under which name it is still doing 
business. The officers of this company at the beginning of the year 1917 were: 
Theophilus King, president; Delcevare King, vice president; R. F. Claflin, secre- 
tary and treasurer. The capital stock of the company was then reported as 
$150,000; surplus and undivided profits, $260,000; deposits, $800,000. A branch 
was opened at Mount Wollaston in 1916. 

The Randolph Bank was organized as a state institution in 1836 with a cap- 
ital stock of $150,000. After Congress passed the national banking act, this 
bank was reorganized as a national bank and the capital stock was increased to 
$200,000. It is no longer in existence, having gone into voluntary liquidation 
some years ago. 

On February 28, 1845, tne Cohasset Savings Bank was incorporated with Paul 
Pratt as president; Thomas M. Smith, secretary; Levi N. Bates, treasurer. At 
the beginning of the year 1917 the officers were as follows: Charles W. Gam- 
mons, president; George W. Collier, vice president; Russell B. Tower, secretary; 
Caleb Lothrop, treasurer. The deposits then amounted to $1,230,000 and the 
surplus and undivided profits to $86,000. 

The Quincy Savings Bank also began business in 1845 and for almost three 
quarters of a century it has been one of the substantial banking houses of Nor- 
folk County. At the close of the year 1916 it carried deposits of $4,800,000 and 
reported surplus and undivided profits of $237,000. Herbert T. Whitman was 
then president ; Richard D. Chase, vice president ; and Clarence Burgin, treasurer. 

The Randolph Savings Bank was incorporated and began business in April, 
1851. Its officers at the close of the year 1916 were: Herbert F. French, pres- 
ident; Rufus A. Thayer and John H. Field, vice presidents; N. I. Tolman, treas- 
urer. At that time the bank carried deposits of $1,700,000 and reported a surplus 
and undivided profits fund of $108,000. 

In 1853 the National Mount Wollaston Bank was organized as a state bank 
and continued as such until after the passage of the national banking act by 
Congress, when it was reorganized. This bank reported at the beginning of the 
year 1917 a capital stock of $150,000; surplus and undivided profits, $90,000; 
deposits, $800,000. H. M. Faxon was then president; Arthur H. Alden, vice 
president; H. F. Spear, cashier. 

The Foxboro Savings Bank was organized in 1855 and has done a successful 
business from its beginning. In the spring of 191 5 it moved into a fine new build- 
ing erected for its accommodation. On the second floor of this building are the 
Foxboro town offices and the third floor is used as a club room. Lewis E. Gray 
was president of this bank at the beginning of the year 1917 ; Horace G. Smith 
and Jarvis Williams, vice presidents ; George R. Ellis, clerk of the corporation ; 
Harrie F. Gray, treasurer. The bank then carried $848,000 in deposits and re- 
ported undivided profits of $33,000. Three times within the last ten years this 
bank has declared extra dividends from its earnings. 

On October 31, 1864, the First National Bank of South Weymouth received 
its charter and commenced business soon afterward, with a capital stock of 
$150,000 and B. F. White as president. Two years later it purchased a building 
and moved into it, and from that time to the present has done a successful banking 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 349 

business. At the close of- the year 1916 E. R. Hastings was president; George 
L. Barnes, vice president; J. H. Stetson, cashier. In the meantime the capital 
stock had been reduced to $ico,ooo; the surplus and undivided profits amounted 
to $50,000, and the deposits to $220,000. 

The Franklin National Bank was organized in 1865 by James P. Ray, Moses 
Farnum and others, with a capital stock of $200,000. James P. Ray was the first 
president. At the beginning of the year 191 7 this bank reported a capital stock 
of $100,000; surplus and undivided profits, $131,000; deposits, 350,000. E. H. 
Rathbun was then president ; Albert D. Thayer and Bradley M. Rockwood, vice 
presidents; J. E. Barber, cashier; Laura E. Blake, assistant cashier. 

The South Weymouth Savings Bank was incorported on March 6, 1868, by 
Benjamin F. White and others and began business about a month later. At the 
beginning of 1917 it reported deposits of $1,600,000, and surplus and undivided 
profits of $140,000. R. W. Hunt was then president ; E. J. Pitcher and A. B. 
Raymond, vice presidents; F. T. Barnes, treasurer; L. L. Whitman, assistant 
treasurer. 

The Braintree Savings Bank, located at South Braintree, began business in 
1870. Its condition at the close of the year 1916 was one that indicated pros- 
perity, the bank reporting surplus and undivided profits of $566,000 and deposits 
of $665,000. The officers at that time were: B. F. Dyer, president; L. B. Hollis 
and G. V. Pennock, vice presidents ; F. E. Dyer, treasurer. 

On February 21, 1871, the Benjamin Franklin Savings Bank of Franklin was 
incorporated with Davis Thayer, Jr., as president, and Charles W. Stewart as 
treasurer. At the annual meeting on July 9, 191 7, the following officers were 
elected: Elisha P. Chapman, president; Walter M. Fisher, Horace W. Hosie, 
Adelbert D. Thayer and Orestes T. Doe, vice presidents ; Albert C. Mason, clerk ; 
Charles L. ^tewart, treasurer. The surplus and undivided profits then amounted 
to $56,000 and the bank carried deposits of $890,000. 

The Medway Savings Bank was also organized in 1871 and is the only bank 
ever established in that town. The following officers were elected in March, 
1917: A. E. Bullard, president; S. G. Clark, W. L. Palmer and E. F. Richard- 
son, vice presidents ; W. N. Hitchcock, clerk ; William H. Upton, treasurer. The 
deposits then amounted to $450,000 and the surplus and undivided profits to 
$50,000. 

Another bank that began business in 1871 was the Brookline Savings Bank. 
It is still in existence and is one of the largest banks in the county, measured by 
the volume of business transacted. At the close of the year 1916 it reported de- 
posits of $6,600,000; a guaranty fund of $200,000; surplus and undivided profits, 
$200,000. Charles H. Stearns was then president ; A. H. Latham and A. E. 
Kenrick, vice presidents ; E. M. Farnsworth, vice president and treasurer. 

The East Weymouth Savings Bank commenced business in 1872. A few 
years ago it erected a building for a home, on the second floor of which are the 
Weymouth town offices. In July, 1917, this bank reported assets of $1,907,296, 
a surplus of $170,000, and deposits of $1,730,000. W. H. Pratt was then presi- 
dent ; F. H. Emerson and E. M. Carter, vice presidents ; J. A. Raymond, treasurer. 

In 1886 the Brookline Trust Company was incorporated with an authorized 
capital stock of $100,000. At the beginning of the year 191 7 it reported deposits 
of $2,300,000 and a surplus of $75,000. The officers at that time were as fol- 



350 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

lows: Ernest L\ Dane, president; Albert J. Meserve, Jr., vice president; G. A. 
Whitney, treasurer. 

In 1898 Roger W. Babson began business as private banker at Wellesley Hills. 
Mr. Babson also does a considerable business in buying and selling securities, 
but no data concerning his business are obtainable. 

The Wellesley National Bank was organized in 1904, with a capital stock of 
$50,000 and opened its doors for business soon after receiving its charter. 
Charles N. Taylor was president of this bank at the beginning of 1917 ; Benja- 
min H. Sanborn, vice president ; B. W. Guernsey, cashier. At that time the 
bank reported surplus and undivided profits of $59,000 and deposits of $1,000,000. 

In 1905 the Milton Savings Bank was incorporated. H. C. Gallagher was 
president of this bank at the close of the year 1916; John Talbot was vice presi- 
dent ; F. A. Gaskins, treasurer, but no statement of its financial condition is given 
in the Bankers' Directory. 

The Norwood National Bank was organized in 1907, with a capital stock of 
$100,000. On July 2, 191 7, it was reorganized as the Norwood Trust Company 
and the capital stock was increased to $200,000. On August 1, 1917, it moved 
into its new building. George F. Willett is president ; Walter F. Tilton, vice 
president ; Edson D. Smith, secretary ; Clarence A. Rathbone, treasurer. At the 
time the reorganization was made the institution reported deposits of $1,750,000 
and a surplus of $65,000. 

The Foxboro National Bank was established in 1909, with a capital stock of 
$50,000. It occupies quarters in the new building of the Foxboro Savings Bank. 
A statement issued in June, 1917, shows a surplus fund of $16,100 and deposits 
of $228,740. B. B. Bristol was then president; W. S. Kimball, vice president; 
Fred H. Richards, cashier. 

In 1910 the Needham Trust Company was organized with a capital stock ot 
$50,000 and began business soon after it was incorporated. Of this company 
William Carter is president; William G. Moseley, vice president; James H. 
Whelton, secretary; H. P. Newell, treasurer. At the beginning of the year 1917 
it reported a surplus and undivided profits fund of $33,000 and deposits of 
$375,000. 

The Boulevard Trust Company of Brookline was organized in 191 1 with a 
capital stock of $100,000 and at the close of the year 1916 it reported deposits 
of $970,000 and surplus and undivided profits amounting to $35,000. William 
A. McKenney was then president ; Frank A. Russell, vice president ; George M. 
J. Bates, vice president and treasurer. 

About the time the above company began business, the Stoughton Trust 
Company was incorporated. Its authorized capital stock is $100,000 and during 
the first five years of its existence placed $14,000 of its earnings in the fund of 
surplus and undivided profits. At the close of the year 1916 it reported deposits 
°f $635,000. Guy A. Ham was then president; Ira F. Burnham and James D. 
Henderson, vice presidents ; Fred D. Leonard, treasurer. 

On July 9, 191 5. the Randolph Trust Company opened its doors for business, 
and on January 3, 19 16, it removed into its new building. A statement issued 
by this company on June 20, 1917, shows a capital stock of $60,000; a surplus 
and profits fund of $12,415; and deposits of $358,000. The officers at that 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 351 

time were : James D. Henderson, president ; Louis E. Flye and Charles D. Hill, 
vice presidents ; Frank W. Vye, treasurer. 

The Quincy Trust Company was also organized in 191 5 with a capital stock 
of $100,000. Since it began business it has accumulated a fund of surplus and 
undivided profits amounting to $30,000, and carries deposits of $200,000. Chester 
I. Campbell was president at the beginning of the year 1917 ; John Curtis, Robert 
E. Foy and P. E. Barbour, vice presidents; Herbert E. Curtis, treasurer. 
Herbert E. Curtis is also treasurer of the Norfolk Trust Company, which was 
organized in 1916. 

The Walpole Trust Company, the youngest banking concern in the county, 
began business in July, 1917, with Henry P. Kendall as president; Philip R. 
Allen, vice president; Stephen P. Cushman, secretary; Charles E. Barrett, treas- 
urer. It is located in the Plimpton Building and sixty days after it began busi- 
ness reported assets of $215,000. 

In addition to the above regular banking institutions, several of the towns in 
the county have what are known as "'cooperative banks," the purpose of which 
is to loan money on first mortgage security on real estate for a longer period of 
time than ordinary banks. They are much the same as the building and loan 
associations of other states. Through the medium of the cooperative banks 
many people have obtained loans of considerable sums and these loans have been 
repaid in easy installments, so that the borrower is not subjected to providing 
for payment all at one time. 

Norwood has what is called a "Morris Plan Bank,'' with a capital stock of 
$25,000. It occupies the building formerly used by the Norwood National Bank. 
W. H. Brown is president ; James M. Folan and Frank A. Morrill, vice presi- 
dents ; Alfred L. Atwood, clerk and treasurer. The Morris Plan banks in 
America originated with Arthur J. Morris of Norfolk, Virginia, who worked 
out a plan of applying the system of the industrial banks of France, Germany 
and Italy to similar institutions in this country. Loans are repaid in weekly 
installments running through a period of one year. 



CHAPTER XLI 
MANUFACTURING 

FIRST NEEDS OF THE PIONEERS — BOOTS AND SHOES — IRON WORKS — COTTON AND 
WOOLEN GOODS PAPER AND WOOD PULP STRAW GOODS MISCELLANEOUS MANU- 
FACTURES STATISTICAL TABLE FOR I915. 

Among the first settlers of Norfolk County food and shelter were the prime 
necessities. The first manufacturing establishments were therefore saw and 
grist mills of the most primitive character, to provide lumber for building dwell- 
ing houses and breadstuff's for the table. These mills were always located on 
some stream and were run by water power. Tracts of land and water privileges 
were granted to individuals by several of the towns almost as soon as they were 
organized, on condition that the grantee would build a mill. The history of 
these early mills will be found in the chapters relating to the towns in which 
they were situated. 

BOOTS AND SHOES 

Footwear was another article that the pioneers understood would be a neces- 
sity. To provide a supply of boots and shoes, Thomas Beard was brought over 
in the Mayflower, "to be maintained at the public charge (not exceeding ten 
pounds a year) and to be employed at such places as the govern, might desig- 
nate." Mr. Beard was the first shoemaker in New England. He brought over 
with him a supply of leather, the freight charges on which was four pounds per 
ton. Within twenty years from the time he made his first pair of shoes in this 
country, Lynn was exporting shoes. From that time to the present, New Eng- 
land has been the great shoe manufacturing center of the United States. 

Randolph and Braintree were the pioneer shoemaking towns of Norfolk 
County. About the beginning of the Nineteenth Century Samuel Hayden started 
in the manufacture of shoes in Braintree and Thomas French in Randolph. In 
those days the workmen took the work to their homes, each one making all parts 
of the boot or shoe upon which he was employed. The factory building did not 
come until some years later. Mr. French also established a tannery and made 
his own leather, or at least a considerable portion of it, while the Drinkwater 
tannery, on the Monatiquot River in Braintree, was the chief source of Mr. 
Hayden's supply. In 1880 there were twenty-six shoe manufacturers in Ran- 
dolph alone, employing nearly eight hundred people. The finished product from 
the shoe factories of Braintree and Randolph was conveyed by wagon to Boston. 

Weymouth was also an early shoe manufacturing town. Says Gilbert Nash : 
"As late as the beginning of the present century (1801) there were probably not 

352 




GEORGE E. KEITH COMPANY SHOE FACTORY, EAST WEYMOUTH 




ALDKX. WALKER & WILDE SHOE FACTORY, EAST WEYMOUTH 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 353 

more than three or four persons who manufactured this class of goods for other 
than the home market, and those gave employment to only a few apprentices, 
besides what they could do themselves. These goods were carried to Boston 
market either upon the backs of the manufacturers, who made the journey on 
foot, or else in saddle-bags upon horses. The beginnings of this trade were at 
Weymouth Landing, spreading thence to the north and south villages, reaching 
latest of all the east, which now surpasses all of the others in the magnitude of 
its business in this line. It was a whole generation before it became necessary 
to employ a 'baggage wagon,' the clumsy pioneer of the present express, and the 
buildings used in carrying on the manufacture would hardly suffice for offices 
at the present day, the goods being made wholly^at the homes of the workmen, 
nearly all of whom had little shops in or near their dwellings, the work being 
prepared and packed only at the factory. As late as 1840, it was a large factory 
that produced five hundred dollars' worth of goods in the week." 

John Linfield started in the manufacture of shoes in Stoughton in 1816, in a 
building that occupied the site where the town hall was afterward built in 1880. 
Isaac Beals, the second in the industry in this town, began in 1821. Later he 
formed a partnership with Simeon Drake, who became prominent in the business 
after Mr. Beals retired. In 1880 there were fifteen shoe factories in the town, 
doing a business of over a million dollars annually. 

A shoe factory was established in Medway about 1830, and five years later 
was employing about three hundred persons. John Mann began making boots 
and shoes in Walpole in 1836 and the following year he formed a partnership 
with Truman Clarke, under the firm name of Clarke & Mann, which did a 
thriving business for about twelve years, when Mr. Mann purchased his partner's 
interest. The great fire in Boston brought financial disaster and forced him to 
wind up his business. 

In 1848 E. & W. Fairbanks began making shoes at Caryville, in the Town 
of Bellingham. In 1864 William Fairbanks became the sole proprietor and dur- 
ing the next ten years enlarged the factory until it employed about one hundred 
workmen. Upon his death in 1874 the business was sold to Houghton, Coolidge 
& Company of Boston, who conducted the plant until it was burned on July 25, 
1874. Along in the '60s there were four boot and shoe factories in Bellingham, 
but they have either been discontinued or removed to more favorable locations. 

A number of Medfield citizens organized a company for the manufacture of 
boots and shoes in 185 1, built a factory and began business. The quality of 
the goods turned out by this factory was excellent, but the venture proved to be 
unprofitable and after a few years the factory was closed. 

According to the last Directory of Massachusetts Manufactures, issued by 
the Bureau of Statistics in 19 15, there were then nineteen shoe factories in 
Norfolk County, distributed as follows : Avon, Doherty Brothers Shoe Com- 
pany; Braintree, D. B. Closson & Company. Slater & Morrill, Rice & Hutchins 
and the Williams-Kneeland Company; Holbrook, the Fiske Shoe and Leather 
Company ; Millis, Joseph M. Herman & Company ; Quincy, H. M. Hanson Shoe 
Company; Randolph, Richards & Brennan Company and the Royal Shoe Com- 
pany; Stoughton, M. F. Kelley (Three K. Shoe Company) and Upham Brothers 
Company ; Weymouth, Alden, Walker & Wilde, Edwin Clapp & Son, George H. 



354 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Cunningham & Son, George E. Keith Company, James A. Pray, Stetson Shoe 
Company and the George Strong Company. 

Closely allied to the boot and shoe industry are the business of tanning and 
finishing leather and the furnishing of cut stock and findings, in both of which 
lines there are several establishments in the county. In Canton are the Canton 
Leather Company, the Crow Blacking Company and the Morse Brothers, the 
Crow Blacking Company having a capacity of from eight hundred to one thou- 
sand hides finished as patent leather daily. Two large plants — the Smith Plant 
and the Winslow Plant — are operated in Norwood by the Winslow Brothers & 
Smith Company. Walpole also has a large tanning and finishing plant, and in 
Weymouth the following firms manufacture and deal in cut stock and findings : 
George L. Bates, George H. Bicknell, Henry B. Chandler, Frank D. Daly, C. H. 
Kelly and William M. Staples. The George E. Belcher Last Company and the 
Stoughton Stamping Company, both of Stoughton, manufacture annually large 
quantities of lasts for the shoe factories. 

Within recent years a number of concerns have been established for the 
manufacture of rubber boots and shoes, or rubber heels and soles for leather 
shoes. Among the factories of this kind in Norfolk County are : F. H. Apple- 
ton & Son, of Franklin; the Massachusetts Chemical Company, of Walpole; the 
Monatiquot Rubber Works, of Braintree ; the Plymouth Rubber Company and 
the Stoughton Rubber Company, of Stoughton. 

iron WORKS 

Some time prior to 1643 John Winthrop, Jr., organized a company in London 
for the purpose of establishing an iron works in Massachusetts. He brought 
over stock and machinery valued at one thousand pounds and a number of 
workmen who understood the manufacture of iron from the ore. On January 
19, 1643, tn i s company received a grant of 3,000 acres of land and built the 
works on the Monatiquot River, in the easterly part of Braintree. The com- 
pany was not successful in the undertaking and failed after about ten years. 

John Hubbard of Boston rebuilt the dam about 1681 and put up a saw 
mill, iron works and forge near the site of the old iron works, but his dam inter- 
fered with the passage of the fish up the Monatiquot and one night a number 
of men destroyed the dam. Several lawsuits followed until the town purchased 
the water privilege, which settled the difficulty. 

In the chapter on Sharon, mention is made of the little iron furnace of 
Ebenezer Mann, in the southern part of the town, and the manufacture of can- 
non from the iron ore about Massapoag Lake, at the time of the Revolution. In 
1787 the Kinsley Iron and Machine Company built a factory in Canton and 
began the manufacture of steel by the German process. Large numbers of mill 
saws were turned out by this concern before the beginning of the Nineteenth 
Century. The manufacture of firearms was then commenced and during the 
W r ar of 1812 the United States Government contracted with this company for 
several thousand muskets. The original firm of Leonard & Kinsley was dissolved 
in 1821, when Adam Kinsley became the sole owner. He added a foundry in 
1833 and in 1837, upon his death, he was succeeded by his sons, Lyman and 
Alfred Kinsley, who began the manufacture of car wheels in 1845. A rolling 




UPHAM'S SHOE FACTORY, STOUGHTON 









**** ,* y < ^ 



4 « ■ r » 




PLYMOUTH RUBBER FACTORY, STOUGHTON 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 355 

mill was added in 1853 and in 1855 the Kinsley Iron and Machine Company was 
incorporated with a capital stock of $200,000. At one time this company em- 
ployed over two hundred men, but the inconvenience of location finally caused 
it to go into liquidation. 

A bell foundry was opened at Canton in 1801 by Paul Revere & Son, who 
had previously been engaged in the same line of business in Boston. The com- 
pany cast bells, cannon and all kinds of composition work of iron and copper. 
Paul Revere died in 1818 and his son, Joseph W. Revere, continued the business 
until 1828, when the Revere Copper Company was incorporated. The buildings 
once used by this company were purchased by the Plymouth Rubber Company 
in 1909 and a branch factory established. 

George Holbrook established a bell foundry in Medway in 181 5 and carried 
on a successful business for years, his bells summoning people to worship in 
almost every state of the Union. After the death of the founder the business 
gradually declined and was finally abandoned entirely. 

About 1813 the manufacture of cut nails was established in Medfield. The 
factory was on a little stream, a short distance below the old stone mill on the 
road to Dedham. The undertaking was not a success. Another nail mill was 
built on Mother Brook (in Dedham) in 1814, but it met with no better results 
than the one in Medfield, and the factory passed into the hands of Jabez Chick- 
ering, who converted it into a mill for combing worsted. In 1822 Oliver Ames 
and Elijah began the manufacture of shovels, nails and tacks in Braintree. The 
nail and tack department was conducted by Elijah Howard and his son Jason, 
with Apollos Randall as a partner, until about 1875, when Jason Howard, the 
only surviving partner, retired. The shovel department was a great success, the 
Ames shovels being in great demand all over the country on account of their 
superior quality. 

In 1868 James T. Stevens and George D. Willis built a small factory on the 
corner of Tremont and Taylor streets in the Town of Braintree and began the 
manufacture of tacks and nails. About 1871 they moved to Weymouth, and still 
later to South Braintree. where the business was incorporated under the name 
of the Stevens & Willis Company. This company makes nails, spikes, cut steel 
and iron nails and wire nails. 

The East W^eymouth Iron Company was incorporated in March, 1837, with 
a capital of $150,000, which was subsequently doubled. The works of this com- 
pany were located at the foot of Whitman's Pond, on the Weymouth Back River 
and for several years did a prosperous business, employing at times about three 
hundred men. Along in the '80s it gave up everything except the manufacture 
of nails and finally quit business altogether. 

In 1825 S. M. Fales was running a small foundry in the western part of 
Walpole. He sold it in that year to General Leach of Easton, who put in a 
blast furnace and manufactured all kinds of machinery for about twenty years, 
when he sold the plant to George & Thomas Campbell, who converted it into a 
paper mill. This plant is now in Norfolk. 

Henry Plimpton began the manufacture of hoes in Walpole as early as 1813. 
Later he added other farm implements and steel springs to his products. After 
several changes in ownership, the property was sold in 1865 to the Linden Spring 
and Axle Company. Part of the mill was used by Stephen Pember as a shoddy 



356 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

factory until it burned down. Another factory for making farm implements 
was located at Rakeville, in the Town of Bellingham. It was established by 
J. O. Wilcox, who was succeeded by his son, D. E. Wilcox, and shipped its goods 
to all parts of New England. This factory was discontinued some years ago. 

In 191 5 the establishments in Norfolk County working in iron, steel and other 
metals were as follows: Braintree — the Vanadium Metals Company, brass and 
bronze products; the repair shops of the New York, New Haven & Hartford 
Railroad Company; the Dow Manufacturing Company, electrical machinery; 
the Stevens & Willis Company, already mentioned; M. A. Haskell & Company, 
sewing machines and attachments. Brookline — Holtzer-Cabot Electric Company; 
E. S. Ritchie & Sons, scientific instruments; J. Koch & Son, wirework, includ- 
ing wire rope and cable. Canton — Leslie Manufacturing Company, cutlery and 
tools: the Electric Goods Manufacturing Company. Foxboro — the American 
Coil Company, electrical supplies; Foxboro Foundry Company; Massachusetts 
Radiator Company ; Standard Gauge Manufacturing Company. Franklin — Clark- 
Machine and Foundry Company; Golding Manufacturing Company: Murdock 
& Geb Company. Medway — United Awl and Needle Company, cutlery and 
tools. Needham — Hopewell Railroad Supply Company. Norwood — American 
Brake Shoe and Foundry Company; J. E. Plimpton & Company. Quincy — 
Connors Manufacturing Company of Norfolk Downs, and Daniel J. Nyhan, 
brass and bronze goods ; David T. Drummond, Gustaf Wilbas, Pinel Tool Com- 
pany and Vulcan Tool Company, cutlery and tools; S. H. Couch & Company of 
Norfolk Downs, electrical machinery and supplies; Boston Gear Works, M. A. 
Campbell, V. J. Emery, John F. Kemp, Pneumatic Scale Company and Wollas- 
ton Foundry Company, foundry and machine shop products. Sharon — H. A. 
Lothrop & Company, cutlery and tools. Stoughton — F. E. Benton, brass and 
bronze goods; George E. Belcher, foundry and machine shop; Stoughton 
Stamping Company. Walpole — L. F. Fales, foundry and machine shop ; Wil- 
liam Mahoney, bed springs. Wellesley — American Mica Company, electrical 
machinery and supplies. 

COTTON AND WOOLEN GOODS 

It may not be generally known that the first cotton mill in Norfolk County — 
which was one of the earliest in the State of Massachusetts — was built in Canton 
in 1803, by James Beaumont, Lemuel Bailey and Abel Fisher. The first product 
turned out was wick yarn for candle makers, then warp and filling for sheeting, 
and a little later the first piece of cotton cloth ever woven by machinery in 
Massachusetts was turned out at this mill. 

Two years after the Canton mill was projected, John Blackburn, Philo San- 
ford and others built a cotton mill in Medway for the manufacture of yarns. Mr. 
Blackburn was a practical manufacturer, having been previously associated with 
Samuel Slater of Rhode Island, who built the first cotton mill in the United States. 
The Medway mill began with S20 spindles in March, 1807. Later looms were 
added and the concern did a general cotton manufacturing business. On August 
17, 1881, the old factory building was sold at auction for $1.50, to be removed 
from the premises within ten days, and a substantial brick building known as the 
"Sanford New Mill" was erected upon the site. It is now operated by the Med- 






■ ■ • 







■ ft tf 



AMERICAN WOOLEN MILLS, FRANKLIN 




HAYWOOD MILL, FRANKLIN 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 357 

way Manufacturing Company, whose principal offices are in Pawtucket, Rhode 
Island. 

As early as 1812 Col. Timothy Mann was engaged in the manufacture of sat- 
inet, etc., in the Town of Walpole. He was succeeded in 1825 by his son-in-law, 
Truman Clarke, who added broadcloths, cassimeres, etc., to the line of goods 
and carried on a successful business for several years. Upon retiring from busi- 
ness he leased the factory to Whitehouse & Company, who went out of business 
a little later. 

The Neponset Cotton Manufacturing Company of Canton was organized in 
1824. The large stone mill was completed and equipped in 1825, but it soon after- 
ward passed into the hands of Holbrook, Dexter and Hill, who converted it into 
a woolen factory. They failed in 1828 and the building stood idle for about two 
years, when it was sold to a new company — the Neponset Manufacturing Com- 
pany — for about one-third of its original cost. It is now operated under the name 
of the Neponset Woolen Mills, under the management of Joseph Brooke. 

About 1816 Robert Sugden, an Englishman, leased the old Thayer mill in 
Braintree and commenced the manufacture of woolen goods. He was succeeded 
by Alva Morrison in 183 1. Mr. Morrison afterward purchased the property and 
carried on a successful business until his death, when his sons continued it for a 
number of years. 

When John Bowditch came to Braintree he established a fulling mill on the 
Monatiquot River. He married a daughter of John French and the mill remained 
in the hands of the Bowditch family for more than one hundred years. It was 
sold in 1796 and the new owners converted it into a grist mill. About 1823 it was 
purchased by a company which manufactured cotton gins for a few years, when 
the Boston Flax Company purchased the property. This company employed about 
six hundred people in the manufacture of twine and linen goods until about 1880, 
when the machinery was removed to Ludlow, Massachusetts, and the buildings 
since then have been occupied by the Jenkins Manufacturing Company, which 
makes shoe laces and other cotton small wares. 

Simeon Presbrey began making cotton thread in Canton in 182 1. A little later 
he enlarged his mill and added the manufacture of twines. After several changes in 
proprietorship, the mill became the property of G. H. Mansfield & Company in July, 
1866, under which name it is still running. A new factory building was erected 
a few years ago, and the firm now manufactures twines, violin strings, drum 
snares, etc. It is claimed that the finest silk fishing lines in the world are turned 
out by this company. 

Cotton and woolen mills were established in Foxboro, Bellingham and some 
of the other towns of the county before the middle of the Nineteenth Century, 
but little of their history can now be learned. In 191 5, according to the report 
of the Bureau of Statistics, the manufactories of this class in Norfolk County 
were : Bellingham — Charles River Woolen Company and Taf t Woolen Com- 
pany ; Braintree — Jenkins Manufacturing Company; B'rookline — Jersey Cloth 
Mills ; Canton — Canton Manufacturing Company, Springdale Finishing Com- 
pany. Draper Brothers Company, Knitted Padding Company, Neponset Woolen 
Mills and Springdale Fibre Company ; Dedham — Cochrane Manufacturing Com- 
pany, which makes carpets and rugs, Hodges Finishing Company and Jacob 
Lorio ; Foxboro — Beaumont Brothers' shoddy mills ; Franklin — Franklin Rug 



358 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Company, Clark-Cutler-McDermott Company, Franklin Mills ( Unionville), 
Charles River Woolen Company, Mendon Woolen Mills, Norfolk Woolen Com- 
pany, American Woolen Company, Franklin Yarn Company, H. T. Hayward 
and the Singleton Worsted Company ; Medway — Medway Manufacturing Com- 
pany ; Millis — American Felt Company of Rockville ; Norfolk — American Felt 
Company of City Mills, City Mills Woolen Company and Norfolk Woolen Com- 
pany; Norwood — The Holliston Mills, which make a specialty of dyeing and 
finishing textiles ; Plainville — Lewis P. Beaumont's shoddy mills ; Quincy — East- 
ern Rug Company ; Sharon — Seamans & Cobb Thread Mills ; Stoughton — 
Stoughton Mills; Walpole — J. & S. Allen, cordage and twines, and the S. Gray 
Company, dyers and finishers ; Wellesley — R. T. Sullivan & Company's shoddy 
mills ; W'eymouth — Waterproof Canvas Supply Company, awnings, tents and 
sails. 

In the manufacture of hosiery and knit goods, Needham excels all the other 
towns of the county, having eleven establishments, in three of which the goods 
are produced by hand and are of superior quality. Knit goods are also produced 
in Canton, Dedham, Stoughton and Wellesley. The Springdale Finishing Com- 
pany of Canton claims to be the largest manufacturers of khaki cloth in the 
United States, if not in the world. 

PAPER AND WOOD PULP 

On September 13, 1728, the General Court of Massachusetts passed an act 
"to encourage the manufacture of paper in New England," and a franchise was 
granted to Daniel Henchman, Gillam Phillips, Benjamin Faneuil, Thomas Han- 
cock and Henry Dering, giving them a monoply of the business for ten years, pro- 
vided that within fifteen months they made forty reams of brown paper and 
sixty reams of printing paper. The mill erected by the holders of this franchise 
was on the Neponset River in the Town of Milton, and was the first paper mill 
built in New England. The first paper was made under the direction of Henry 
Woodman, an experienced workman who had learned the trade in England. 

John M. and Lyman Hollingsworth began the manufacture of paper in Brain- 
tree about 1832. It was at their mill that the process of making manila paper 
from old rope was discovered and the first paper of that kind ever made in the 
United States was produced at this mill. When the founders of this industry 
removed from the town the business was taken charge of by Ellis A. Hollings- 
worth and soon afterward the firm of Hollingsworth & Whitney was formed. In 
1882 a stock company was organized and a new mill built, but it does not appear 
in the late reports of the Bureau of Statistics. 

In 1835 Silas Smith and others formed the Neponset Paper Mill Company 
and purchased the plant of the Neponset Manufacturing Company in Walpole. 
Francis W. Bird became the possessor of this property in the fall of 1838. Mr. 
Bird took his son into partnership and operated not only the above mentioned 
mill, but also what was known as "Bird's Lower Mill," which had been built by 
his father, George Bird, in 1818. In 1882 the lower mill was sold to Hollings- 
worth & Vose, under which name it is still running. F. W. Bird & Son now 
operate paper and wood pulp plants in Norwood and Walpole ; J. F. Wall & Son 




HOLL1XCSWORTH & VOSE PAPER MILLS, EAST WALPOLE 




OFFICES AND MILE OF E. W. BIRD & SOX. EAST WALPOLE 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 359 

are proprietors of the Highland Lake Mill in Norfolk, and the American Glue 
Company of Walpole manufacture sand paper and emery cloth. 

Barber's Historical Collections, published in 1848, give a list of thirteen paper 
mills in Norfolk County, viz : two in Braintree, three in Dedham, six in Need- 
ham and two in Walpole. One of the mills in Dedham made a specialty of marble 
and fancy paper. 

STRAW GOODS 

The introduction of braided straw bonnets into the United States is due to 
the ingenuity of Miss Betsey Metcalf, daughter of Joel Metcalf of Wrentham. 
In 1798 Miss Metcalf was employed in the millinery store of Mrs. Naomi Whip- 
ple in Wrentham, where she saw her first straw bonnet, recently brought from 
New York. Together she and Mrs. Whipple unbraided a piece of the work and 
learned how it was made. Then they procured some straw, imitated the braiding, 
and made a bonnet. The demand for braided straw bonnets increased and they 
taught others to do the work, the straw braids being taken by the merchants in 
exchange for goods. Fisher & Day of Wrentham were the pioneers in the indus- 
try. They were soon followed by Asa and Davis Thayer of Franklin, and a little 
later Mason & Ellis of Medfield engaged in the business. Amariah Hall of 
Wrentham began the manufacture of straw bonnets about 1802 and quickly 
became the leading producer of this line of goods. He was familiarly known as 
''Bonnet Hall," on account of his success. 

In 1856 Walter Janes, who had commenced making straw bonnets about five 
years before, formed a partnership with Daniel D. Curtis and employed a number 
of women and girls at their factory in Medfield. On October 3, 1876, this fac- 
tory was burned, but was immediately rebuilt and in 1877 Edwin V. Mitchell 
came into the firm. In 1901 the firm took the name of Edwin V. Mitchell & 
Company, under which it is still in operation, manufacturing a full line of straw 
hats for both men and women. E. V. Mitchell died in the spring of 1917. 

In 19 1 5 there were three straw hat factories in Foxboro, operated by Caton 
Brothers, John Castillo & Company and Inman & Kimball. Caton Brothers also 
manufacture felt hats. E. A. Staples & Company represented the straw indus- 
try in Franklin, Edwin V. Mitchell & Company in Medfield, Hirsh & Guinzburg 
in Medway, and the Wrentham Hat Company in Wrentham. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

The early manufacture of boots, shoes and other lines of small wares made 
necessary packing cases, and box factories were called into existence. One of 
the oldest establishments of this class is that of R. Loud & Company of Wey- 
mouth, which dates its beginning from 1850, when Mr. Loud converted his grist 
mill into a box factory. Five years later E. & C. Sherman began making boxes 
and carried on the business for several years, when they turned their attention ex- 
clusively to the manufacture of paper boxes. In 191 5 there were seven factories 
making wooden packing cases, to wit : A. B. Holden, Caryville ; Virgil S. Pond, 
Foxboro ; O. F. Metcalf & Sons, Franklin ; Medway Box Company ; Ralph O. 



360 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Brown, Sharon ; R. Loud & Sons, South Weymouth ; and William D. Smith, 
W'rentham. Plain and fancy paper boxes were then made by the Medway Box 
Company; Edward E. Dailey, Needham Heights; M. B. Gaff, Randolph; F. W. 
Bird & Son, East Walpole ; A. O. Crawford, Elon Sherman's Sons and Wey- 
mouth Paper Box Company, Weymouth. 

About the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, Jonas Welch bought the 
grist mill of William Allen in Braintree and began the manufacture of chocolate. 
His goods proved to be the best in the market and Welch's chocolate became 
known all over the country. The chocolate industry in Norfolk County is now 
represented by the well known firm of Walter Baker & Company, whose head- 
quarters are in Boston, but have a mill in the Town of Milton. 

In April, 1804, Samuel Morrill was born in the Town of Salisbury. Upon 
arriving at his majority he removed to Norwood and started making printers' ink 
in a small wooden building with only one kettle and a limited process of making 
lamp-black. He had previously learned the trade of printer and knew the demand 
for ink of good quality. His two sons, George H. and Samuel S. Morrill, were 
taken into partnership and in 1869 the firm name was changed to George H. 
Morrill & Company. This firm is now known as the George H. Morrill Company 
and is one of the largest producers of printers' ink in the country. 

In 1866 Alexander W. Robertson started a pottery at Chelsea, and about two 
years later his brother, Hugh C. Robertson, became his partner. In 1872 their 
father came from Scotland and joined them, the concern then taking the name 
of James Robertson & Sons. In 1896 a new pottery was built at Dedham and the 
old one was abandoned. The Dedham pottery took the grand prize at St. Louis 
in 1904 in art pottery. In 1912 the business was incorporated as the Dedham 
Pottery Company, with H. E. Weatherby, president, and W. A. Robertson, 
manager. 

The Town of Plainville has four jewelry manufacturing establishments — 
Thompson & Remington, who do a reducing and refining business, Scofield, 
Melcher & Scofield, Whiting, Davis & Company, and the Plainville Stock Com- 
pany. 

The only two hammock factories in Massachusetts are located in Norfolk 
County : James Brayshaw of North Weymouth, and T. B. Thomas & Company 
of Quincy. Weymouth also boasts one of the three concerns manufacturing 
fireworks — Edmund S. Hunt & Sons Company. The Fore River Shipbuilding 
Company of Quincy is one of the important manufacturing concerns of the county, 
the plant being greatly enlarged in 191 7. 

When it is realized that there are over four hundred manufacturing plants in 
the county, it can be understood how impracticable it would be to attempt a full 
history of each one in a work of this nature. Some idea of the importance of 
the manufacturing industries of the county may be gained from the following 
table, which has been compiled from the 191 5 report of the State Bureau of 
Statistics, a few of the establishments not making returns of the amount of capi- 
tal invested and the number of employees : 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 361 

No. of No. of Paid in 

Towns Estab. Capital Emp'ees Wages 

Avon i 

Bellingham 4 

Braintree 18 $ 3,299,000 1,900 $ 1,105,000 

Brookline 16 233,500 126 98,000 

Canton 13 3,176,000 890 521,000 

Cohasset 3 

Dedham 13 613,900 180 93,200 

Dover 1 

Foxboro 13 746,700 317 177,600 

Franklin 24 2,469,000 1,100 627,300 

Holbrook I 

Medfield 2 

Medway 9 3 8 9vPO 435 248,300 

Millis 4 

Milton 4 

Needham 19 

Norfolk 3 

Norwood 22 

Plainville 6 

Ouincy '. 157 

Randolph 9 

Sharon 3 

Stoughton 19 

Walpole 13 

Wellesley 6 

Weymouth 30 

Wrentham 3 

Total 416 



82,700 


51 


24,900 


1,666,500 


690 


277,500 


8.549,000 


2,245 


i,545,5oo 


986,400 


315 


216.200 


19,868,200 


' 6,475 


5,233,000 


723,700 


380 


277,600 


2,469,000 


1,200 


681,500 


5,325,400 


1.283 


859,000 


712,600 


228 


112,800 


5.774,000 


1,824 


1,087,000 


$57,084,900 


I9>6l9- 


$13,185,400 



CHAPTER XLII 
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 

TASK OF THE PIONEERS MOTHER BROOK EARLY HIGHWAYS TURNPIKES STAGE 

LINES THE RAILROAD ERA THE GRANITE RAILWAY FIRST RAILROAD CHARTERS 

— THE DEDHAM BRANCH — OLD COLONY RAILROAD — NORFOLK COUNTY RAILROAD — 
OTHER RAILROADS ELECTRIC RAILWAY LINES FORE RIVER IMPROVEMENT. 

When the first white men settled in Norfolk County they found the country 
"fresh from the hands of Nature." Indian trails, dim and indistinct in places, were 
the only roads, the streams tyere without bridges and fordable only at certain 
places. To develop this wild (region and render it habitable was the task of the 
Puritan pioneers. Those who live in the present day, in the full enjoyment of the 
fruits of three centuries of development, can scarcely realize the magnitude of that 
task. \ 

MOTHER BROOK 

One of the first necessities of the early settlers was some means of grinding 
their corn into meal. Water power was depended upon to run the mill, but in the 
neighborhood of Dedham no suitable water power could be found. Some one 
(it would be interesting to know who) suggested that East Brook, which flowed 
into the Neponset River, had sufficient fall to run a mill if the volume of water 
could be increased. To furnish the necessary volume of water it was proposed 
to cut an artificial canal from the Charles River to the headwaters of East Brook, 
a distance of about three-fourths of a mile. How long the subject was discussed 
by the citizens is not known, but it came before a town meeting in Dedham 
on March 25, 1639, when the following action was taken: 

"Ordered y l a Ditch shalbe made at a Comon Charge through purchased 
medowe unto ye East brooke y* may both be a pticon fence in ye same : as also 
may serve for a Course unto a water mill : yf it shalbe fownd fitting to set a 
mill upon ye sayd brooke by ye Judgem 1 of a workeman for y* purpose." 

The ditch was completed some time the following year. It appears that the 
project was undertaken without the authority of the General Court, and it is 
quite probable that the work of excavation was done by the citizens as volunteers. 
This was doubtless the first artificial canal in the United States. Erastus Worth- 
ington, in speaking of this canal in 1884, said : "The turning of the Waters of 
Charles River by means of the artificial channel, and uniting them with the head- 
waters of East Brook in 1640, has proved to be most beneficial and permanent 
in its consequences through all the subsequent history of the town. Until the 
beginning of the present century it furnished saw mills and grist mills, then of 

362 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 363 

the highest importance, with power, and from 1807 down to the present time 
there have been erected upon it cotton and woolen mills, which have been pros- 
perous and have contributed to the substantial growth of the town." 

According to Mann's Annals of Dedham (p. 37), on May 11, 1789, "a com- 
mittee chosen to ascertain the town's claim to Mother Brook stream and land 
adjoining, formerly granted to Nathaniel Whiting and James Draper, reported 
that Messrs. Joseph Whiting, Jr., Paul, Moses and Aaron Whiting have con- 
sented to give the town six pounds for an acquittance of the town's claim to said 
stream, and advise a compliance with these terms." The report of the committee 
was accepted and the town treasurer was instructed to give a quit claim deed in 
behalf of the town upon receipt of the money. The canal is also known as 
Mill Creek. 

EARLY HIGHWAYS 

For better protection against Indian depredations, the first settlers built their 
habitations near to each other, hence the greatest need of highways was for roads 
from one settlement to another. In looking over the early records of the various 
towns, one will notice frequent petitions for the opening of highways of this 
class. Within a few years after it was first settled, Boston became the com- 
mercial center of Massachusetts and the desire of the people was for roads that 
would give them access to the metropolis. 

One of the first roads in what is now Norfolk County grew out of the act 
of the General Court in 1634, which "gave Boston enlargement at Mount Wol- 
laston." Before the close of that year Israel Stoughton built his mill on the 
Neponset River, at the foot of Milton Hill, on the Dorchester side of the stream, 
four miles from the nearest settlement on the north, while on the south the 
nearest inhabitants were those at Wessagusset. Naturally the scattering settle- 
ments wanted a road to the mill. The opening of this road consisted merely of 
the. removal of the trees and other obstructions as might impede the passage 
of a cart, the matter of grading being left for future consideration. In 1635 
the General Court authorized John Holland to "keep a ferry across the Nepon- 
set, near Stoughton's mill, and to charge each passenger four pence, except in 
cases where there were more than one passenger, in which event each was to 
be charged three pence." 

In November, 1639, the coast road was ordered laid out by the General Court, 
but the order was not executed until two years later. This road passed through 
Braintree, with branches to Squantum Head and Hough's Neck. It remained 
the principal thoroughfare from that town to Boston until the beginning of the 
Nineteenth Century. In 1648 the road from Weymouth to Dorchester was 
formally laid out, passing by the Braintree meeting house and Wright's mill. 
This road was afterward extended to Hingham, and ultimately to Plymouth. 

In April, 1660, two highways were ordered to be laid out through the new 
grant of land to the Medway proprietors — "one at a distance of half a mile 
north of the Charles River from east to west, and the other through the midst 
of the tract from the way that runs west to a line to the north end of the same." 

Shortly after the plantation at Wollomonopoag (now Wrentham) was estab- 
lished in 1663, a highway from that plantation to Dedham was confirmed by the 



364 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Dedham selectmen, the road to run "at ye east ende of their lotts." Part of this 
road now forms South street in the Town of Wrentham. After the Indian deed 
to Needham and Dedham Island was obtained by the settlers in 1680, a road was 
opened from Dedham to the new purchase and a bridge was built across the 
Charles River at the place known as "The Canoes." In 1684 the road was 
extended to Needham Great Plain, where it intersected the road from Boston to 
Natick. 

A road from Medfield to Wrentham was opened in 1684. It crossed the 
Charles River near the present village of Rockville, in the Town of Millis. From 
Medfield it was extended westward to Worcester, and from Wrentham eastward 
to Taunton, in time becoming one of the main thoroughfares of the Common- 
wealth. Where the Village of Franklin is now situated, this road was crossed 
by one running from Dedham to Woonsocket, Rhode Island. At Dedham it 
connected with the road leading to Boston. 

Before the middle of the Eighteenth Century a road was opened from Boston 
to Providence. It passed through the towns of Dedham, Norwood, Walpole, 
Foxboro and Wrentham, and afterward became a post road, over which mai) 
riders passed each way three times a week. It was a link in the great mail route 
that ran from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Williamsburg, Virginia, though 
when that route was first established in 1693, ^ ran west of Providence, via 
Saybrook, Connecticut. It continued as mail route until after the advent of the 
railroad, and it is said that one express rider carried President Jackson's mes- 
sage from Boston to Providence in two and three-quarter hours. Most of the 
through roads were formed by building short stretches of highway here and 
there to connect local roads. 

During the first century the question of keeping the roads in repair was one 
that was difficult of solution. In fact, it is doubtful whether any systematic 
repairs were made. About the middle of the Eighteenth Century, Weymouth 
and Roxbury adopted the system of levying a tax for the repair and improve- 
ment of the highways. These two towns were probably the first in Massachu- 
setts to apply such a system. 

TURNPIKES 

About the beginning of the Nineteenth Century a demand arose for better 
roads. To meet this demand turnpike companies were chartered by the General 
Court, with authority to build roads and charge toll for their use by travelers. 
The Boston & Hartford Turnpike Company was one of the first to receive a 
charter and the road was completed in 1806. From Boston it ran in a south- 
westerly direction, entering Worcester County not far from the Town of Milford. 

The Weymouth & Braintree Turnpike Company was chartered on March 4, 
1803, and the road was opened to travel in 1805. It entered Weymouth at 
Weymouth Landing and followed a southeasterly course to Hingham, on the line 
from Boston to Plymouth. For nearly fifty years toll was collected on this 
road, but on July 15, 1852, it was made a public highway. Washington street 
in Weymouth is a part of this old turnpike. 

Another turnpike opened about the same time, was the Norfolk & Bristol, 
which passed through Dedham. Erastus Worthington, writing of this turnpike 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 365 

in 1827, said : "The steamboats from New York land their passengers at Provi- 
dence, and in a few hours afterwards six or seven stages full may be frequently 
seen a mile south of the village descending into it, bringing sometimes the dust 
with them which they raise. Every other day the mail arrives on its way to 
Washington City." 

On February 29, 1804, the New Bedford Turnpike Company obtained a 
charter to build and operate a turnpike from the Weymouth & Braintree pike, 
about a mile from Weymouth Landing, running thence southward to the Abing- 
ton line, on the route from Boston to New Bedford. Before many years the 
northern part of the road was relinquished by the company, because the expense 
of keeping it up was greater than the revenue derived from it, and it now forms 
part of Alain street in Weymouth. 

The Neponset Turnpike ran from Quincy to the Neponset River near the 
old site of Israel Stoughton's mill and was opened early in the century. James 
Thayer began running a "baggage-wagon" from Quincy to Boston upon the 
completion of this pike, sometimes carrying passengers who were not too fas- 
tidious to put up with the accommodations. 

In 1808 the Quincy & Hingham Bridge and Turnpike Company was incorpo- 
rated. Bridges were built over the Fore and Back rivers in Weymouth and the 
company charged vessels tolls for using the draws, as well as travelers who 
passed over the road. The bridge tolls were the source of much ill feeling and 
contention and the road was finally thrown upon the towns as a public highway 
in September, 1862. There were other turnpike companies, but the above were 
the principal lines in the county. 

STAGE LINES 

Before railroads were built, stage coaches were the only public means of 
transportation between Boston and the interior towns. The first stage line 
between Boston and Providence was established in 1767. At Providence it con- 
nected with another stage line, running to New York. About 1785 Hazard 
started his line of mail coaches from Boston to Bristol Ferry, and later to New 
Haven, where the mail coach connected with a steamer for New York. With 
the building of the turnpikes the coaching business greatly increased, and in the 
first quarter of the Nineteenth Century a number of lines were in operation. In 
the Dedham Gazette of February 11, 1814, appears the following advertisement: 

"Martin Marsh respectfully informs the public that he has commenced 
running a Stage from Dedham to Boston. The stage will start every day, Sun- 
day excepted, from his tavern adjoining the Court House in Dedham, at 7 
o'clock in the morning in summer, and at half past eight in the winter season, 
and puts up at Mr. Davenport's tavern, Elm Street, formerly Wing's Lane, 
Boston. Seats may be taken at Mr. Davenport's, Elm St., or at Mr. Boynton's 
Sign of the Lamb, Newbury St., Boston, and at Marsh's Tavern, Dedham. Fare 
each way 62 l / 2 cents." 

Two lines of stages — the Peoples' and the Citizens' — were running between 
Boston and Providence at the time Mr. Marsh started his local stage, and there 
was much rivalry between the two companies as to which could make the trip 
in the shortest time. Ordinarily, the coaches made the run in about four and 



366 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

a half hours. Then the Citizens' Company had built some light coaches and 
shortened the time about one hour. At one time this company owned about 
three hundred horses, and a relay of fresh horses was always in waiting at the 
stopping places. In Dedham, the Peoples' stages started from the Phoenix Hotel, 
and the Citizens' from the Norfolk House. The stables of the former adjoined 
the hotel and the company lost about sixty horses by the burning of the Phoenix 
Hotel and stables on October 30, 1832. During the palmy days of the stage 
coaching era as many as forty stages passed over the road in a single day in the 
busy season. 

In 181 5 a line of stages began running between Boston and Cohasset, leaving 
Dock Square in Boston on Monday, Thursday and Saturday of each week, and 
returning on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. About the same time Jedediah 
Little & Company started the Boston & Scituate "Accommodation Stage," which 
made three trips each way weekly. It carried the mail to Marshfield, Hingham, 
Cohasset and Scituate. 

Simon Gillett purchased the "route and good will" of James Thayer's baggage 
wagon in 1823, and put on a regular passenger coach called the "John Hancock," 
which made four trips weekly between Quincy and Boston. The coach left 
Quincy early in the morning, stopped at Barnard's, Elm Street, Boston, and 
started upon the return trip about four o'clock in the afternoon. 

The south shore towns — Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate and 
Plymouth — never depended as much upon stage coaches for communication with 
Boston as did the towns farther from the coast. About 182 1 Capt. George Beal 
began making regular trips between Hingham and Boston with the packet 
"Lafayette," charging a fare each way of thirty-seven and a half cents. A few 
years later he built a better boat — the "General Lincoln" — and stopped at all the 
"way points" between Scituate and Boston. Other boats came into use, carrying 
both passengers and freight, which rendered stage coaching in this part of 
Norfolk County an unprofitable venture. 

THE RAILROAD ERA 

In January, 1826, a petition signed by Gridley Bryant, Amos Lawrence, 
Thomas H. Perkins, David Moody, William Sullivan and Solomon Willard, was 
presented to the Legislature, asking for a charter to build a railroad from the 
Quincy stone quarries to the Neponset River. All the petitioners were residents 
of Boston except Mr. Willard, who lived in Quincy. On January 25, 1826, a 
Quincy town meeting appointed a committee of fifteen to confer with the legis- 
lative committee that had the bill in charge, with the result that an act of incor- 
poration was passed and approved by the governor. The "Granite Railway 
Company" was then organized with Thomas H. Perkins as president. 

The idea of building the road originated with Gridley Bryant, who had a 
contract of furnishing the stone for the Bunker Hill Monument, and hit on 
this plan of getting the stone to Boston. Work was commenced on the road in 
April, 1826, and on the 7th of October the first train of cars passed over the 
entire length of the track, a distance of about four miles. In building the road 
Mr. Bryant used stone sleepers, placed about six or eight feet apart, upon which 
were set timbers 6 by 12 inches, placed on edge, and on the top of the wooden 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 367 

rails were fastened iron strips four inches wide and a half-inch thick. Years 
afterward, when the road passed into the hands of the Old Colony Railroad 
Company, the stone sleepers were replaced by wooden ties and the rails by iron 
ones. It has been claimed that this was the first railroad ever built in the United 
States under a charter granted by a state legislature. 

In the early years of the Nineteenth Century canals were built from Worcester 
to Providence and from Northampton to New Haven. These canals connected 
with Long Island Sound and afforded easy means of transportation to New 
York. Surveys were made for a canal from Boston to the Hudson River, but 
before it could be built attention was diverted to the railroad as the best means 
of carrying freight and passengers. In 1827 the Legislature appointed a board 
of commissioners "to cause surveys to be made of the most practicable routes 
for a railroad from Boston to the Hudson River, at or near Albany." Four years 
later charters were granted to three railroad companies — the Boston & Lowell, 
the Boston & Providence, and the Boston & Worcester. 

The last named road was completed to Wellesley in 1834 and the steam engine 
as a motive power for moving cars was for the first time introduced in New 
England. Trains began running on the Boston & Providence in June of the same 
year. In July, 1835, the first train ran from Boston to Worcester. This road is 
now a part of the Boston & Albany. 

THE DEDHAM BRANCH 

When the Boston & Providence Railroad was nearing completion, a meeting 
was held in Dedham to consider the question of building a branch to that town. 
A charter was obtained through an act of the Legislature, and the first train ran 
from Boston to Dedham on December 8, 1834. The coaches used on this branch 
road were fashioned like the old stage coaches, wide enough to accommodate four 
persons on a seat. They were at first drawn to and from Boston by horses, but 
after about a year the horses were used only as far as Readville, where the coaches 
were attached to the steam trains from Providence. On January 30, 1837, the 
station building at Dedham was burned, with a locomotive and several cars. 
Horses then again came into use for the full distance between Dedham and Bos- 
ton, a change of horses being made at "Toll Gate" (now Forest Hills). In 1889 
the Boston & Providence passed under the management of the Old Colony Rail- 
road, and in July, 1893, it became a part of the New York, New Haven & Hart- 
ford system. 

OLD COLONY RAILROAD 

The Old Colony Railroad Company was chartered in 1844 and built its first 
line from Boston to Abington, the line passing through Braintree and South Wey- 
mouth. The road was opened for travel on November 10, 1845. Two years later 
a branch was built from Dorchester to Milton, with stations at Mattapan and East 
Milton. A little later another branch was built from this line to East Milton and 
West Quincy. 

On March 26, 1846, the South Shore Railroad Company received a charter 
and built a line of road through the northern part of Weymouth, the charter 



368 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

authorizing the road to extend from Boston to Plymouth. It was opened for 
business as far as Hingham on January i, 1849. At first it connected with the 
Old Colony line at Braintree and from that point used the tracks of the Old 
Colony to Boston. In May, 1877, this road became a part of the Old Colony 
system, which in turn passed into the hands of the New York, New Haven & 
Hartford in July, 1893. 

NORFOLK COUNTY RAILROAD 

In 1847 the Norfolk County Railroad Company was incorporated to build a 
road from Dedham to Blackstone, a distance of twenty-six miles. It was com- 
pleted in two years and trains began running in the spring of 1849. To connect 
with this road, the Boston & Providence constructed a new branch through West 
Roxbury to Dedham. In the meantime another railroad from Boston to Woon- 
socket, Rhode Island, had been projected. It was known as the "Air Line" and 
was built through Needham and Dover. A few years after it was completed the 
Norfolk County Railroad passed into the hands of other corporations and a new 
road constructed through Dorchester connected with it about a mile and a half 
south of Dedham. The effect of this change was to leave Dedham without any 
direct railway connection with the southerly and westerly portions of the county. 

OTHER RAILROADS 

A railroad called the "Charles River Railroad" was projected in the latter 
'40s and a few miles were constructed. In 1855 it was merged with the New 
York & Boston Railroad. Ten years later it became a part of the Boston, Hart- 
ford & Erie, and when that company failed it was reorganized as the New York 
& New England Railroad. On August 1, 1861, the first train ran from Boston 
to Medfield on the Charles River Branch of this system. 

In the spring of 1870 trains commenced running on the Framingham & Mans- 
field Railroad, which passes through Medfield, Walpole and Foxboro, and in 1877 
the Rhode Island & Massachusetts Railroad was completed, connecting Franklin 
and Providence via Valley Falls, and in 1883 the Milford & Franklin Railroad 
began running regular trains. These roads are now all branches of the New York, 
New Haven & Hartford. 

ELECTRIC RAILWAY LINES 

With the development of electricity as a motive power in the latter part of 
the last century, it came into use to operate short lines of railway and street car 
systems in cities. One of the first railways of this class in Norfolk County was 
the Needham Street Railway, a franchise for which was granted by the selectmen 
of that town in the spring of 1893. The franchise provided for a line from the 
Wellesley boundary to the Dedham line over Great Plain avenue and Webster 
street, with a branch on Highland avenue from the Needham postoffice to the 
Newton line. The franchise was accepted by the directors of the company on 
April 8, 1893. 

The Newton & Boston Street Railway Company received its franchise to 





FORE RIVER SHIP BUILDING COMPANY, QUINCT 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 369 

operate lines in Norfolk County on February 2, 1897, and on November 1, 1897, 
the Natick & Cochituate Street Railway Company was granted the right to extend 
its line into Wellesley and Needham. The first car on this line from Wellesley 
to Needham was run on April 9, 1899, leaving the former town at one o'clock P. M. 

A franchise was granted to the Norfolk & Western Street Railway Company 
on September 1, 1899, but the name was afterward changed to the Medfield & 
Medway Street Railway Company. This company operates the line from Dedham 
to Franklin, passing through Westwood, Medfield, Millis and Medway. 

As the advantages of electric lines were made manifest, other roads were con- 
structed, among them the Norfolk & Bristol, which runs from Norwood to Mans- 
field through Walpole and Foxboro ; the Norwood, Canton & Sharon ; the Mil- 
ford. Wrentham & Attleboro, and a few others. Since the beginning of the 
present century the Old Colony Street Railway Company has gradually extended 
its lines into the county, until Dedham, Westwood. Milton, Quincy, Braintree, 
Weymouth, Cohasset, Randolph, Holbrook, Avon, Norwood, Walpole and Need- 
ham are all connected with Boston by electric lines. 

FORE RIVER IMPROVEMENT 

For several years the great shipbuilding company located on the Weymouth 
Fore River has felt the need of widening and deepening the main channel of the 
stream. In the early part of 1917 Congress made an appropriation of $200,000 
for this purpose. To this amount the State of Massachusetts added $75,000, the 
City of Quincy, $10,000, and the shipbuilding company, $15,000. The Boston 
Herald of May 5, 1917, says: "With a fund of $300,000 available, work will 
soon be commenced in widening and deepening the channel of Weymouth Fore 
River at Quincy. The channel will be made eighteen to twenty-four feet deep 
at mean low tide and 300 feet in width, the widening to commence inside Ped- 
dock's Island and follow the channel to the plant of the Fore River Shipbuilding 
Company. . . . The shipbuilding company has been unable to take contracts 
for the larger class of ships on account of the narrowness and shallowness of the 
channel, but when the proposed improvements are completed ships of any size 
may pass through Quincy Point bridge without difficulty." 



Vol. 1—24 



CHAPTER XLIII 
THE BENCH AND BAR 

COLONIAL LAWS — BODY OF LIBERTIES — UNDER THE CONSTITUTION — NORFOLK COURT 

OF COMMON PLEAS — CIRCUIT COURT OF COMMON PLEAS COURT OF SESSIONS — 

COURT OF PROBATE DISTRICT COURTS — DISTRICT JUSTICES — THE BAR — SKETCHES 

OF EARLY LAWYERS BAR ASSOCIATION. 

COLONIAL LAWS 

Although there were no professional lawyers "of national reputation" — if 
indeed there were any at all — among the first settlers of Massachusetts, the people 
managed to make laws under which they succeeded reasonably well, such laws 
being executed by vote of the town meeting, or by officials chosen for the pur- 
pose. In 1635 four magistrates were deputed "to frame a body of laws, which 
shall bear a resemblance to a Magna Charta." At the head of this commission 
was Nathaniel Ward of Ipswich, whom Bancroft declared to be "the most remark- 
able among all the early legislators of Massachusetts." Nearly six years elapsed 
before the code — called the "Body of Liberties" — was completed. It went into 
effect in 1641, and with amendments and additions from time to time, as occasion 
required, the "Body of Liberties" remained the fundamental law of the colony 
until the Revolution. 

The principal features of this early code were as follows : 1. All general officers 
to be elected annually by the people. 2. The freemen in the several towns to 
choose deputies from among themselves, or elsewhere as they might judge fittest, 
to serve for one year in the General Court. 3. Life, liberty, honor and property 
to be at all times under the protection of law. 4. Every citizen was guaranteed 
equal justice under all circumstances. 5. Refuge was granted to shipwrecked 
mariners and their goods were protected. 6. Slavery was prohibited, except in 
case of "lawful captives taken in just war, and such strangers as are willing to 
sell themselves or are sold to us." 7. Wife-whipping was forbidden under severe 
penalties. 8. The death penalty was to be inflicted only in cases of murder, 
adultery, rape, man-stealing, and knowingly bearing false witness to deprive any 
one of life. 

UNDER THE CONSTITUTION 

On June 15, 1780, the constitution of the State of Massachusetts was ratified 
by the people and became effective. Under its provisions the Legislature enacted 
laws providing for the establishment of courts. By the act of July 3, 1782, the 
Supreme Judicial Court was established as the only one of general common 

370 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 371 

law jurisdiction in the Commonwealth. On the same date an act was approved 
authorizing a Court of Common Pleas in each county in the state. This court 
was to consist of "four substantial, discreet and learned persons," to be appointed 
by the governor, and was to have jurisdiction in civil cases where the value of 
the property involved did not exceed a certain amount. Still another court 
established on July 3, 1782, was the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, to 
be held in each county of the state by the justices of the peace of such county. 
It was "empowered to hear and determine all matters relative to the conservation 
of the peace and the punishment of such offences as are cognizable by them at 
Common Law." This court also had jurisdiction in the matter of apportioning 
taxes, laying out highways, erecting public buildings for the county, etc. A Pro- 
bate Court was established in each county of the state by the Legislature in 1784. 
Such were the courts in existence when Norfolk County was organized in June, 
i/93- 

NORFOLK COURT OF COMMON PLEAS 

On July 2. 1793, the governor appointed as justices of the Court of Common 
Pleas .for Norfolk County Samuel Niles, of Braintree ; Richard Cranch, of 
Quincy; William Heath, of Roxbury ; and Stephen Metcalf of Bellingham. Al- 
though the records do not show that any of these men declined to serve, such was 
evidently the case, as on September 3, 1793, Nathaniel Ames, of Dedham ; John 
Read, of Roxbury ; and Ebenezer Warren, of Foxboro, were appointed justices, 
and Edward H. Robbins, of Milton, and Solomon Lovell, of Weymouth, special 
justices. 

The first session of the court was convened in the meeting house at Dedham, 
on Friday, September 24, 1793, with Stephen Metcalf, Ebenezer Warren and 
James Endicott as justices, and Nathaniel Ames as clerk. James Endicott was 
a Stoughton man and received his appointment on the day the session of the court 
was commenced. The first case committed to a jury in the Court of Common 
Pleas for Norfolk County was in April, 1794, at which term 166 cases were 
entered for trial. 

Other justices of the Court of Common Pleas in Norfolk County, as it was 
originally established and before it was superseded by the Circuit Court of Com- 
mon Pleas, were: Oliver Everett, of Dorchester, who was appointed in 1799 and 
died on December 19, 1802, when his brother, Moses Everett, was appointed to 
the vacancy ; Horatio Townsend, of Medfield ; Samuel Bass, of Randolph ; Samuel 
Haven, of Dedham; David S. Greenough, of Roxbury; Thomas Williams, of 
Roxbury; and Thomas Greenleaf, of Quincy. 

CIRCUIT COURT OF COMMON PLEAS 

By the act of June 21, 181 1, the Court of Common Pleas in each county was 
abolished and a Circuit Court of Common Pleas established in its place. The 
state was divided into six circuits, the counties of Barnstable, Bristol, Norfolk 
and Plymouth constituting the "Southern Circuit." Under the provisions of the 
act, each Circuit Court was to consist of a chief justice and two associates. 
Thomas B. Adams, of Quincy, was appointed chief justice of the Southern Cir- 



372 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

cuit, and Jairus Ware, of Wrentham, and Xahum Mitchell, of Bridgewater, asso- 
ciates. On February 15, 1821, the governor approved an act abolishing the 
Circuit Court of Common Pleas and establishing a Court of Common Pleas for 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It existed until 1859, when it was super- 
seded by the Superior Court, which was given jurisdiction in both civil and 
criminal cases. While the Circuit Court of Common Pleas was in existence, the 
following Norfolk County men served on the bench, in addition to the lirst 
appointees above named : Samuel Bass, Ebenezer Warren, Joseph Heath, Samuel 
Swett and Ebenezer Seaver. 

COURT OF SESSIONS 

The Court of General Sessions of the Peace, usually referred to as the "Court 
of Sessions," of Norfolk County held its first session on the last Tuesday in 
September, 1793. John Jones, of Dover, signed the record as presiding justice, 
but that record does not show who the other justices were. By the act of Febru- 
ary 2.7, 1787, six years before Norfolk County was organized, this court was 
given power over county affairs similar to that now exercised by the county 
commissioners. 

On June 19, 1807, the structure of this court was changed so as to consist 
of a chief justice and four associates, to be appointed by the governor. Ebenezer 
Seaver, of Roxbury, was appointed chief justice; William Aspinwall, of Brook- 
line; John Ellis, of Medway; Joseph Bemis, of Canton; and Samuel Day, of 
Wrentham, associates. Mr. Aspinwall resigned soon after his appointment and 
Nathaniel Ruggles was appointed to the vacancy. Exactly two years later, the 
powers and duties of the Court of Sessions were transferred to the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas. 

On June 25, 181 1, a few days after the Circuit Court of Common Pleas was 
established, the Court of Sessions was revived by an act, Section 1 of which was 
as follows: "From and after. the first day of September next an act passed June 
19, 1809, is repealed and all acts before in force relative to the Court of General 
Sessions of the Peace are revived." Judges Seaver, Ellis, Bemis, Day and Ruggles 
were then reappointed. 

Another change was made by the act of February 28, 18 14, when the powers 
and duties of the Court of Sessions were transferred to the Circuit Court, except 
in the counties of Suffolk, Dukes and Nantucket. Section 4 of the act provided 
that : "The governor shall appoint two discreet persons, being freeholders, within 
each county, who shall be session justices of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas 
in their respective counties." 

In accordance with this section, the governor on June 11, 1814, appointed as 
session justices in Norfolk County Ebenezer Warren, of Foxboro, and Samuel 
Bass, of Randolph. They were succeeded in 1816 by Samuel Swett, of Dedham, 
and Joseph Heath, of Roxbury. In 1819 Ebenezer Seaver, who had been chief 
justice of the Court of Sessions from its reestablishment in 1809, was appointed a 
session justice of the Circuit Court. 

The Court of Sessions was again revived by the act of February 20, 1819, 
with a chief justice and two associate justices. On June 16, 1819, the governor 
appointed Jairus Ware, of Wrentham, chief justice, Ebenezer Warren and Samuel 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 373 

Swett, associate justices. Two justices were added to the court by the act of 
February 26, 1822, and in April Daniel Adarms, of Medfield, and Samuel P. Loud, 
of Dorchester, were appointed as the additional justices. Jairus Ware was elected 
clerk of the courts on September 1, 1826, and William Ellis was appointed, Daniel 
Adams being made chief justice. The Court of Sessions came to its final end by 
the passage of the act of February 26, 1828, which created the board of county 
commissioners to "have, exercise and perform, except so far as modified by 
the provisions of this act, all the powers, authorities and duties which before 
and until the passing of this act, the Courts of Sessions or Commissioners of 
Highways have by law exercised and performed." 

COURT OF PROBATE 

On July 2, 1793, William Heath, of Roxbury, who had served as major- 
general in the Continental army during the Revolution, was appointed judge of 
probate for Norfolk County, and also one of the justices of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas. He continued to serve until his death in 1814, when Edward H. 
Robbins, of Milton, was appointed. He also served until his death, which 
occurred on December 29, 1829, and on January 26, 1830, Sherman Leland, of 
Roxbury, was appointed as his successor. Judge Leland died on November 19, 
1853, an d was succeeded by his son, William S. Leland, who continued in 
office until the Probate Court was consolidated with the Court of Insolvency 
in 1858, when George White, of Quincy, was appointed. The Court of In- 
solvency was created in 1856 and Francis Hilliard, of Roxbury, was judge until 
the court was merged into the Probate Court two years later. The present judge 
of probate is James H. Flint. 

DISTRICT COURTS 

As the population of the state multiplied and the business of the courts cor- 
respondingly increased, it became apparent that the Superior Court needed 
some assistance in the transaction of that business. The Legislature then estab- 
lished District Courts in such counties as stood in greatest need of additional 
tribunals. The first District Court was established in Berkshire County. On 
April 30, 1872, the District Court of Eastern Norfolk was created, to be held 
in Quincy and to have jurisdiction over the towns of Braintree, Cohasset, Hol- 
brook, Quincy, Randolph and Weymouth. In 1910 the Legislature authorized 
the erection of a courthouse for this district at Quincy. 

The Southern Norfolk District Court was established by the act of April 
30, 1891, to have jurisdiction over the towns of Avon, Canton, Sharon and 
Stoughton. The sessions of the court are held in Stoughton and Canton, 
but no courthouse has ever been erected in this district. 

On May 2"], 1898, the Northern Norfolk District Court was created, with 
jurisdiction over the towns of Dedham, Dover, Hyde Park, Medfield, Needham, 
Norwood and Westwood. Hyde Park has since been annexed to the City of 
Boston, otherwise the jurisdiction of the court remains the same. The sessions 
of this court are held in Dedham. 

Another District Court, known as the Western Norfolk District, was estab- 



374 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

lished by the act of June 3, 1898. It has jurisdiction over the towns of Bel- 
lingham, Foxboro, Franklin, Medway, Millis, Norfolk, Plainville, Walpole and 
Wrentham. Sessions of this court are held in Franklin and Walpole. 

DISTRICT JUSTICES 

Under the provisions of the acts creating the several District Courts, each 
district has a justice and two special justices. At the beginning of the year 
1917, the justices in Norfolk County were as follows: Eastern Norfolk — 
Albert E. Avery, justice; E. Granville Pratt and Louis A. Cook, special justices; 
Lawrence W. Lyons, clerk. Northern Norfolk — Emery Grover, justice; Har- 
rison A. Plympton and James A. Halloran, special justices; Clifford B. Sanborn, 
clerk. Southern Norfolk — Oscar A. Marden, justice; Henry F. Buswell and 
Gerald A. Healy, special justices; Michael F. Ward, clerk. Western Norfolk — 
Orestes T. Doe, justice; Henry E. Ruggles and Elbridge J. Whitaker, special 
justices; Harry L. Howard, clerk. 

THE BAR 

Davis' History of the Bench and Bar of Massachusetts (vol. II., p. 52) says: 
"At the first meeting of the Norfolk bar, held September 28, 1797, only eight 
were present, and before the next meeting, held in 1802, only six more had become 
members. The list at the latter date included Fisher Ames, Samuel Haven, of 
Dedham; Horatio Townsend, of Medfield ; Thomas Williams, of Roxbury ; Ed- 
ward Hutchinson Robbins, of Dorchester; Asaph Churchill, of Milton; William 
P. Whitney, Henry M. Lisle, Jairus Ware, John Shirley Williams, James Richard- 
son and Gideon L. Thayer." 

A sketch of Fisher Ames, who was no doubt the leading member of the bar 
at that time, appears in another chapter of this work. Samuel Haven was a son 
of Rev. Jason Haven and was born in Dedham on April 5, 1771. He graduated 
at Harvard in 1789, studied law with Fisher Ames and with his cousin, Samuel 
Dexter, in Boston, and was admitted to the bar in Suffolk County. When the 
County of Norfolk was established in 1793 he was appointed register of probate, 
and in 1802 he was appointed a special justice of the Court of Common Pleas, 
serving until the court was abolished in 181 1. In 1833 he removed to Roxbury 
and died there in 1847. 

Asaph Churchill was born in Middleboro on May 5, 1765, and graduated at 
Harvard in 1789. He studied law with John Davis in Boston and was admitted 
to the bar the year Norfolk County was organized. A little later he removed to 
Milton. From 1810 to 1812 he was a member of the Massachusetts House of 
Representatives. Mr. Churchill was recognized as one of the leading attorneys 
of Norfolk County and had a large number of clients. He died at his home in 
Milton on June 30, 1841. Two of his sons — xA.saph and Joseph McKean — both 
studied law, were admitted to the bar and became prominent in political affairs. 
The former was born on April 20, 1814; graduated at Harvard in 1831 ; was 
admitted to the bar before he was twenty-one years of age ; was state senator 
from Norfolk County in 1857; was a director of the Dorchester and Milton Bank 
(later the Blue Hill Bank) for more than twenty-five years, part of which time 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 375 

he was president of the institution; and was president of the Dorchester Mutual 
Fire Insurance Company. Joseph McKean Churchill was born in Milton on 
April 29, 1821; graduated at Harvard in 1840 and at the Harvard Law School 
in 1845; began practice in Boston; was representative to the General Court from 
Milton in 1858; was a member of the constitutional convention in 1853; served 
in the Executive Council in 1859-60; was captain of Company B, Forty-fifth 
Massachusetts Infantry in the War of the Rebellion; was county commissioner 
from 1868 to 1871. He was then appointed associate justice of the Boston 
Municipal Court, in which he had been special justice since 1867. He died in 
Milton on March 23, 1886. 

Horatio Townsend, one of the lawyers who attended the first meeting of the 
Norfolk bar, was born in Medfield on March 29, 1763, and graduated at Harvard 
when he was twenty years old. He then studied law with Theophilus Parsons of 
Newburyport and upon his admission to the bar began practice in Medfield. In 
1799 he was appointed special justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and about 
the same time was appointed clerk of the courts. He was removed from the 
clerk's office in 181 1 by Governor Gerry, but was reappointed the following year 
by Governor Strong and held the office until his death, which occurred at Ded- 
ham on July 9, 1826. 

Edward H. Robbins was born in Milton on February 19, 1758, and was there- 
fore forty-four years of age when he attended the bar meeting in 1802. He 
graduated at Harvard in 1775; studied law with Oakes Ames of Bridgewater; 
began practice in his native town in 1780; was speaker of the Massachusetts 
House of Representatives from 1793 to 1802; was elected lieutenant-governor 
in 1802 and held the office for four years; was one of the early justices of the 
Norfolk Court of Common Pleas; was appointed judge of probate for Norfolk 
County in 1814 and held the office until his death on December 29, 1829. 

John S. Williams was born in Roxbury on May 3, 1772 ; graduated at Harvard 
in 1797; practiced law in Roxbury and Dedham ; was an attorney of the Supreme 
Judicial Court in 1803; was appointed clerk of the courts by Governor Gerry 
in 181 1, but was removed the next year by Governor Strong; held the office of 
county attorney for a time, and died at Ware, Massachusetts, in May, 1843. 

James Richardson was a native of Medfield, where he was born on October 
12, 1 77 1. After graduating at Harvard in 1797 he entered the law office of 
Fisher Ames in Dedham as a student, and was admitted to the bar in 1799. He 
then formed a partnership with Fisher Ames, which lasted until the death of 
the latter in 1808. In 1803 he was made an attorney of the Supreme Judicial 
Court; was elected state senator in 1813 ; was a member of the constitutional 
convention of 1820; was one of the presidential electors in 1832; was president 
of the old county Bar Association for a number of years ; and was president of 
the Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance Company at the time of his death in May, 
1858. _ 

Jairus Ware was born in Wrentham on January 22, 1772 ; graduated at Brown 
University in 1797; practiced law in Wrentham; was representative to the Gen- 
eral Court from 1809 to 1816 and again from 1818 to 1823; was a member of 
the Executive Council in 1825-26; was appointed justice of the Circuit Court of 
Common Pleas in 181 1, and chief justice of the Court of Sessions in 1819. Upon 



376 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the death of Horatio Townsend in 1826, he was appointed clerk of the courts and 
held that office until his death at Dedham on January 18, 1836. 

Gideon L. Thayer was born in Braintree on September 24, 1777, and was a 
son of Gen. Ebenezer Thayer. He graduated at Harvard in 1798; studied law 
with Benjamin Whitman of Plymouth, and with Richard Cranch of Quincy, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1803 or 1804, though the records show that he attended 
the bar meeting of 1802. He had a high standing as an attorney and became a 
counsellor of the Supreme Judicial Court in 1808. He died on July 17, 1829. 

Thomas B. Adams, one of the early lawyers of Norfolk County, was the 
third son of President John Adams, and was born in Quincy on September 15, 
1772, while that town was a part of Braintree. He graduated at Harvard in 
1790; was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania; returned to Quincy soon after 
Norfolk County was incorporated; was representative to the General Court from 
that town in 1805; was appointed chief justice of the Circuit Court of Common 
Pleas in 181 1; became a member of the Executive Council the same year; was 
made counsellor of the Supreme Judicial Court in March, 1808, and died at 
Quincy on March 12, 1832. 

Erastus Worthington, native of Belchertown, was born October 8, 1779; 
graduated at Williams College in 1804; taught school a few terms; studied law 
with John Heard of Boston; was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1807, but soon 
afterward removed to Dedham; was representative to the General Court in 1814- 
15; in 1827 he published a History of Dedham written by himself; was one of 
the founders of the Norfolk Mutual Fire Insurance Company; and was the author 
of an "Essay on the Establishment of a Chancery Jurisdiction in Massachusetts, " 
which is believed to have been the first published argument in favor of an equity 
jurisdiction in the state. He died at Dedham on June 2"], 1842. His son, who 
also bore the name of Erastus, was admitted to the bar in 1854, and was for many 
years one of the most active members of the Dedham Historical Society. He was 
trial justice for eight years and in 1866 was chosen clerk of the courts. 

Theron Metcalf, one of the most prominent lawyers in the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts in the early years of the Nineteenth Century, was born in the Town 
of Franklin on October 16, 1784. In 1805 he graduated at Brown University and 
soon afterward began his legal studies with a Mr. Bacon of Canterbury, Con- 
necticut. He was admitted to the bar in that state, after attending the law school 
at Litchfield (then the only law school in the United States), and then spent a 
year in the office of Hon. Seth Hastings at Mendon, Massachusetts. In Septem- 
ber, 1808, he was admitted to the Norfolk bar, and in October, 181 1, as a counsel- 
lor of the Supreme Judicial Court. In April, 1817, he was made county attorney, 
which office he held for twelve years ; served three terms as representative in the 
General Court and was elected state senator in 1835 ; opened a law school in 
Dedham in the fall of 1828, where he had a number of students, some of whom 
afterward became prominent in the profession; and was for a time the editor 
of the Dedham Gazette. In December, 1839, he was appointed reporter of the 
decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court, where he performed his duties with such 
ability and fidelity that it has been said his volumes of the Massachusetts Reports 
are "the model and despair of his successors." On February 25, 1848, he was 
appointed a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court and remained upon the bench 
until August 31, 1865, when he resigned. In 1844 his Alma Mater conferred 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 377 

upon him the degree of LL. D. and four years later he received a similar honor 
from Harvard. While on the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court his opinions 
were noted for their precision of statement and their familiarity with precedents, 
both English and American, as well as with the principles and maxims of the com- 
mon law. Judge Metcalf died in Boston on November 13, 1875. 

Ezra Wilkinson, who was admitted to the Norfolk bar in 1828, was born in 
Attleboro, February 14, 1801 ; graduated at Brown University in 1824; studied 
law with Peter Pratt of Providence, Rhode Island, and Josiah J. Fiske of Wren- 
tham; and in 1832 was admitted as a counsellor of the Supreme Judicial Court. 
He located at Dedham in 1835 an d in 1843 was appointed by Governor Morton 
as district attorney for the district then composed of Norfolk and Worcester coun- 
ties, which office he held for twelve years. When the Superior Court was estab- 
lished in 1859, Mr. Wilkinson was appointed one of the associate justices and 
he remained on the bench until his death on February 6, 1882. Judge Wilkinson 
was one of the prominent men in the democratic party in his day. He repre- 
sented Dedham in the General Court in 1841, 1851 and 1856; was a member of 
the constitutional convention of 1853; and in one campaign was the nominee of 
his party for Congress against John Quincy Adams. 

William Gaston, son of Alexander and Keziah (Arnold) Gaston, was born at 
Killingly, Connecticut, October 3, 1820, and was of Huguenot ancestry. In 1838 
his father removed to Boston and in 1840 William graduated with honors at 
Brown University. He then entered the law office of Francis Hilliard in Rox- 
bury, later completing his legal studies with Curtis & Curtis of Boston, and in 
December, 1844, was admitted to the bar. Beginning practice in Roxbury (then 
in Norfolk County), he soon rose to a position in the front rank of attorneys. 
In 1865 he formed a partnership with Harvey Jewell and Walbridge A. Field, 
under the firm name of Jewell, Gaston and Field, which partnership lasted until 
1874. Roxbury was annexed to Boston in 1867, and in 1871-72 he served as 
mayor of the city. In 1853-54-56 he represented Roxbury in the General Court, 
and in 1868 was elected to the state senate. In 1874 he was elected governor 
of Massachusetts and while governor received the degree of LL. D. from both 
Brown and Harvard universities. 

Ellis Ames was born in Stoughton on October 17, 1809, and was a descendant 
of William Ames, who settled in Braintree in 1634. In 1830 he graduated at 
Brown University and then studied law in the office of William Baylies of West 
Bridgewater. In December, 1833, he was admitted to the bar in Plymouth County 
and began practice in West Bridgewater, representing that town in the Legisla- 
tures of 1833 to 1836, inclusive. In March, 1837, he removed to Canton and soon 
became identified with the bar of Norfolk County. It has been said of him that 
"His only vocation was his profession, his only avocation was historical study. 
The one was his life work, the other was his pleasure. To the two together he 
gave his time, and few were more skillful or accurate in either. He would have 
graced a professor's chair in history, as well as a judge's seat upon the bench." 
He died at Canton on October 30, 1884. 

Seth Ames, the youngest child of Fisher Ames, was born in Dedham, April 
19, 1805; graduated at Harvard with the class of 1825; studied law with Theron 
Metcalf, and was admitted to the bar in 1828. He began practice at Lowell, and 
in fact never practiced in Norfolk County. In 1859 he was appointed a justice of 



378 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the Superior Court and became chief justice of that tribunal in 1867. From 1869 
to 1881, he was one of the associate justices of the Supreme Judicial Court. He 
died at his home in Brookline on August 15, 1881. 

Edward Avery was born in Marblehead on March 12, 1828. His father, 
Gen. Samuel Avery, was a native of Vermont and was an officer in the War of 
1812. Edward was educated in the Marblehead public schools, the Brooks Clas- 
sical School in Boston, and the Harvard Law School. He studied law with 
Frederick W. Choate and was admitted to the bar in Worcester County in 
1849. About two years later he located in Boston, where he formed a partner- 
ship with George M. Hobbs, becoming a resident of Norfolk County a little 
later. In 1866 he was elected to represent Braintree in the lower house of the 
Legislature and was one of the eight democrats in that body at the ensuing 
session. The following year he was reelected, and was also elected to the senate 
from the district composed of Norfolk and Plymouth counties. He was also 
the candidate of his party for attorney-general and member of Congress. 

This list of attorneys might be extended indefinitely, but enough has been 
said to show the character of the men who have upheld the legal profession in 
Norfolk County since its establishment. Others of more or less prominence 
in the profession were : Naaman L. White, of Braintree ; Samuel Warner and 
Josiah J. Fiske, of Wrentham ; James Humphrey, of Weymouth ; Nathaniel 
F. Safford, of Milton; Samuel B. Noyes, of Canton; Waldo Colburn, of Ded- 
ham; Thomas Greenleaf, of Quincy; Jonathan H. Cobb, of Sharon; and Edward 
L. Pierce, of Milton. Of the lawyers now living and practicing in the county, — 
they are too well known to need mention in this chapter. 

BAR ASSOCIATION 

In Hurd's History of Norfolk County, published in 18S4, is a chapter on the 
Bench and Bar, written by Erastus Worthington, in which several references are 
made to a bar association, but no further record of that organization can be 
found. 

In January, 1886, a number of attorneys, engaged in or waiting for hear- 
ings in the Superior Court at Dedham, were gathered in the law library 
adjoining the court room, when the subject of forming a bar association was 
mentioned. The result was that Everett C. Bumpus, Erastus Worthington and 
Charles A. Mackintosh were authorized to send invitations to attorneys practicing 
in the county to meet at the office of James E. Cotter in Boston, Saturday noon, 
January 23, 1886, to form such an association. Twenty-eight lawyers responded 
to the invitations and met at the appointed time and place. Asa French was 
chosen chairman, and Oscar A. Marden, secretary. These two gentlemen, with 
Charles A. Mackintosh, Erastus Worthington, George W. W'iggin, Everett C. 
Bumpus and James E. Cotter, were chosen as a committee to present a plan of 
organization at an adjourned meeting to be held at the district attorney's office 
in Dedham on February 16, 1886. 

At the adjourned meeting, the committee submitted a constitution, which was 
adopted, and the following officers were elected : Asa French, president , 
Erastus Worthington. vice president; Oscar A. Marden, secretary; George W. 
Wiggin, treasurer; Everett C. Bumpus, James E. Cotter, Moses Williams, Alonzo 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 379 

B. Wentworth, William G. A. Pattee, Henry F. Buswell, Charles H. Drew, 
Tames Hewins and Charles A. Mackintosh, council. The name, adopted at that 
meeting, is "The Bar Association of Norfolk County." 

Henry F. Buswell, George K. Clarke and Sigourney Butler were elected a 
committee to arrange for the first dinner of the association, and Mr. Buswell 
and Mr. Clarke have been on the dinner committee from that date to the present. 
The annual meeting and dinner of the association is held on the Saturday next 
preceding the third Tuesday of February. 

Any attorney regularly admitted to practice in the Massachusetts courts, 
residing or practicing in Norfolk County, is eligible for membership. The roll 
of membership, as published in 191 7, bears the names of 215 who are or have 
been members. Fourteen of the original twenty-eight who met at Mr. Cotter's 
office on January 23, 1886, are still living and engaged in practice. Fifty mem- 
bers have been removed by death, and the present active membership is about 
sixty. The presidents of the association have been as follows: Asa French, 
1886-92; Fdward Avery, 1892-95; Erastus Worthington, 1895-97; James E. 
Cotter, 1897-99; Frederick D. Ely, 1899-190 1 ; Oscar A. Marden, 1901-03; George 
W. Wiggin, 1903-05; Asa P. French, 1905-17. 

Oscar A. Marden served as secretary until 1892, when he was succeeded by 
George K. Clarke, who was succeeded in turn in 1900 by Edward S. Fellows, 
who served but one year. Charles F. Spear was elected in 1901, and served 
until 1908, since which time Robert W. Carpenter has been secretary. The 
treasurers have been — George W. Wiggin, John P. S. Churchill, Ira C. Hersey, 
Edwin C. Jenney and Albert P. Worthen. 

The officers for 1917 are as follows: President, Henry T. Richardson; 
Vice President, John W. McAnarney ; Secretary, Robert W. Carpenter; Treas- 
urer. Albert P. Worthen ; Council, the four officers above named and Albert E. 
Avery, Homer Albers, Joseph P. Draper, Frederick G. Katzman, Fred. L. Nor- 
ton, Russell A. Sears, George A. Sweetser, H. Ware Barnum and Everett C. 
Bumpus. 

LAW LIBRARY 

A Law Library Association was organized in 181 5 and continued in existence 
until 1845. An attempt was made to reorganize it in i860, but it was unsuc- 
cessful. The present Norfolk County Law Library Association was formed in 
the year 1898 by the organization of attorneys-at-law resident in the county. 
The law provides that the inhabitants of the county shall have access to the 
library and may use the books therein subject to the provisions of by-laws adopted 
by the association. The county treasurer is required to pay annually to the 
association all sums paid into the county treasury by the clerk of the courts to 
an amount not exceeding $2,000 in one year, such sums to be applied to main- 
tain and enlarge the library for the use of the courts and of citizens. Since the 
formation of the association a total of $39,819.80, not including the sums accrued 
in 1916, has been contributed by the county for the support of the library. The 
library is provided by the county with rooms at the court house in Dedham. 



CHAPTER XLIV 
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION 

MEDICINE AMONG THE ANCIENTS — CHINA — EGYPT — THE HEBREWS — INDIA — GREECE 
— HARVEY AND SYDENHAM — EARLY NORFOLK PHYSICIANS — BRIEF SKETCHES OF 
PROMINENT DOCTORS — FIRST VACCINATION IN AMERICA — THE NINETEENTH CEN- 
TURY — MEDICAL SOCIETIES HOMEOPATHY — DOCTOR MORTON. 

The practice of medicine in some form or another is almost as old as the 
human race. When the first man "felt out of sorts," he doubtless sought for 
some plant that would relieve his suffering.. If a remedy was discovered, he told 
his neighbor and in this way was built up a crude materia medica that has been 
improved upon by the succeeding generations, until the physician has come to be 
one of the established institutions in all civilized countries. 

According to Chinese traditions, a system of medicine was introduced in 
that country by the Emperor Hwang-ti, about the year 2687 B. C. Although the 
early Chinese doctor knew nothing of the circulation of the blood, noting the 
action of the pulse was a part of his elaborate diagnosis. He knew nothing of 
anatomy and his remedies were compounded with certain spells and incantations 
to add to their effectiveness. Yet some of the methods employed by the ancient 
Chinese physician — such as cupping, blistering and the application of plasters — 
are in use by the doctors of the present day. Missionaries finally introduced 
modern medicine into the Celestial Empire and the old school has largely passed 
away. 

Egyptian papyri of the period of 1600 B. C, or even earlier, show that the- 
art of healing was not unknown in that country. It was practiced by the priests 
with many ceremonial rites. Some of these priests were specialists in certain 
diseases, and Baas, in his History of Medicine, says: "The last six volumes of 
the Sacred Book contain much information regarding the art of healing, and in 
completeness and arrangement rival the Hippocratic collection, which they ante- 
date by a thousand years." 

Among the Hebrews disease was regarded as a punishment for sin until 
after the two captivities, when physicians made their appearance. Compared 
whh modern physicians, they were ignorant of the first principles of medical 
science, but even they were looked upon by the multitude as men of great wisdom. 
They knew little or nothing of human anatomy and their system of treatment 
appealed to the superstition of the patient more than to his good sense. 

Records in the Vedas or sacred books of India show that demonology played 
an important part in the healing of the sick. Before any treatment could be 
effective, the evil spirit must be expelled from the person who was ill. Physi- 
cians among the Brahmins, or highest caste, were given a rigorous course of 

380 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 381 

training, in which ''piety and diet" constituted the principal subjects to be 
mastered. 

Chiron the Centaur was the first to practice medicine in Greece. He was the 
fabled preceptor of /Esculapius, and the names of Galen and Hippocrates are 
still held in respect by the members of the medical profession, the latter being 
known as the "Father of Medicine." 

As an example of the opposition the science of medicine has had to overcome, 
note the discovery of the circulation of the blood by Dr. William Harvey. 
Doctor Harvey studied in various schools and received his degree in 1602. In 
1615 he was made professor of anatomy and surgery in St. Bartholomew's Hos- 
pital, London, and the next year announced his great discovery. Prior to that 
time anatomists had taught that the blood was always in motion through the 
veins, but that the arteries were air passages, because they were always found 
empty after death. Harvey's theory was received with ridicule by the laity, and 
even some of the most learned physicians of that period looked upon it with 
suspicion. Investigation proved the correctness of his theory and the action and 
functions of the heart became known to the profession for the first time in 
history. 

Another physician about this time — Thomas Sydenham — introduced lau- 
danum into the practice of medicine. The deleterious effects of opium had long 
been known and the idea of using it in any form as a remedy for disease did not 
appeal to the practicing physicians. One eminent doctor branded Sydenham as 
"an agent of the devil." Sydenham also was the first to use cinchona in the 
treatment of malarial diseases, but this remedy met with less opposition. Be- 
cause he went with Parliament against King Charles, the College of Physicians 
refused him a fellowship, but after his death his bust was placed in the hall by 
the side of Harvey's. The famous Sydenham Society, for the publication of 
medical works, bears his name. 

Voltaire, who wrote as late as the latter Eighteenth Century, defined a 
physician as "a man who crams drugs of which he knows little into a body 
of which he knows less." That may have been true of a certain class of 
empirics in Voltaire's day, but it will hardly apply to the profession of a century 
later. One by one the obstacles interposed by ignorance and prejudice have been 
surmounted, step by step the profession has been placd upon a higher plane, 
until today the physician is usually a man of mark in the community, regarded 
alike for his professional skill and his. standing as a citizen. 

EARLY NORFOLK PHYSICIANS 

When the first settlers came into Norfolk County, the professional physician 
was "conspicuous by his absence." Many of the immigrants brought with them 
from the mother country plants (or seeds of plants) known to have a medicinal 
value, and these were assiduously cultivated and preserved to be used in rem- 
edies in ordinary cases of illness. From the Indians they learned of native plants 
and almost every household had a supply laid away against the time when they 
should be needed. Teas, decoctions, poultices and plasters were the most com- 
mon of these "home-made" remedies and applications. 

It would be impossible to give a complete list of the early doctors who prac- 



382 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

ticed in the county. Some lived their allotted time and passed away without 
leaving any record of their doings. Others, after dwelling in one of the pioneer 
settlements for a few years, removed to other fields of labor and have been for- 
gotten. One of the earliest physicians to follow his calling in the Massachusetts 
Bay colony was Dr. William Dinely, who practiced both medicine and surgery 
and was in great demand. He was lost in a snow storm between Boston and Rox- 
bury and perished. About two weeks after his death his widow gave birth to a 
son, who was named "Fathergone Dinely." 

A number of the early clergymen understood the rudiments of medicine and 
administered simple remedies in cases where the character of the disease was 
well known. One of these was Rev. Peter Thatcher, who came to Milton in 1681 
as the first regular pastor of the Congregational Church. "A man he was of 
uncommon gifts and acquirements," says Cotton Mather, "spending in medicines, 
it may be some scores of pounds and a great part of his yearly salary, which he 
freely bestowed upon the invalids among his people — ay, it may be, on those of 
all the country round." He died in 1727. 

Henry Dengayne, one of the signers of the Dedham Covenant in 1635, was a 
physician, but there is no evidence to show that he ever resided or practiced his 
profession within the present* limits of Norfolk County. 

Dr. William Avery, another signer of the Dedham Covenant, located in that 
town as one of the first settlers. An old record gives his occupation as "physi- 
cian and apothecary." He was a member of the artillery company in 1654; rep- 
resentative to the General Court in 1669; lieutenant of the town's militia company 
in 1673; and in 1680 gave the town sixty pounds for the purpose of establishing 
a Latin school. One of the public school buildings in Dedham is still known as 
the "Avery School." Doctor Avery died in Boston on March 18, 1687, aged 
about seventy-five years, hence he could not have been more than twenty-three 
years of age when he first came to Dedham. His son, also named William, was 
for a long time a deacon in the church and was a member of the board of select- 
men for twenty-two years. 

Dr. Thomas Boylston, whose father, Thomas Boylston, settled at Watertowrr 
in 1635, became an eminent surgeon. His son, Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, was born 
in 1680 and followed the profession of his father. He was one of the first physi- 
cians to locate in Brookline and became a Fellow of the Royal Society. In his 
professional career is seen another instance of opposition to the introduction of 
new methods of treatment of disease. Boston was scourged by an epidemic of 
smallpox in the spring of 1721 and Rev. Cotton Mather explained to Doctor Boyl- 
ston the transaction of the Royal Society respecting the practice of vaccination (or 
inoculation as it was at first called). Being of a progressive turn of mind, Doctor 
Boylston immediately acquainted himself with the method of introducing the 
virus into the human system, after which he broached the subject to some of the 
Boston physicians. There he met with violent and unexpected opposition, the 
medical men holding that to introduce the germs of a deadly disease into a 
patient was a crime which came under the classification of poisoning, while the 
ministers preached against it and wrote pamphlets to show that the smallpox was 
"a judgment from God for the sins of the people, and that to try to check its 
sway would only provoke Him the more." Nevertheless, Doctor Boylston, on 
June 27, 1721, vaccinated his only son and two negro servants. This was the first 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 383 

time the operation was ever performed in America. The following account of 
the event is taken from Barber's Historical Collections of Massachusetts : 

"Probably there never was greater opposition to any measure of real public 
utility than was exhibited on this occasion. Doctor Boylston was execrated and 
persecuted as a murderer, assaulted in the streets and loaded with every species 
of abuse. His house was attacked with violence, so that neither himself nor his 
family could feel secure in it. At one time he remained fourteen days in a secret 
apartment of his own house, unknown to any of his family except his wife. The 
enraged inhabitants patrolled the town in parties, with halters in their hands, 
threatening to hang him on the nearest tree, and repeatedly entered his house in 
search of him during his concealment. Such was the madness of the multitude 
that, even after the excitement had in some measure subsided, he only ventured 
to visit his patients at midnight, and then in disguise. He also had to encounter 
violent opposition from most of the members of his profession, and notwith- 
standing he invited them all to visit his patients and judge for themselves, re- 
ceived nothing but threats and insults in reply. Indeed, many sober, pious people 
were deliberately of the opinion, when inoculation was first commenced, that 
should any of his patients die, the doctor ought to be capitally indicted. He was 
repeatedly summoned before the selectmen of Boston and received their repre- 
hension. His only friends were Dr. Cotton Mather and other clergymen, most of 
whom became zealous advocates for the new practice and consequently drew 
upon themselves much odium from the populace. Some of them received per- 
sonal injury; others were insulted in the streets and were hardly safe in their 
own dwellings ; nor were their services acceptable on Sunday to their respective 
audiences." 

A bill for prohibiting the practice of vaccination passed the lower branch of 
the Massachusetts Legislature, but failed to pass the Council. Now mark the 
sequel. In 1792, only a long lifetime after the persecution of Doctor Boylston, 
when another epidemic of smallpox appeared in Boston, "the whole town was 
inoculated in three days to appease the infatuation of the inhabitants respecting 
the danger apprehended from this deadly pestilence." It is due to such men as 
Dr. Zabdiel Boylston that the human race makes progress. His death occurred 
on March 1, 1766. One of the principal streets in Boston bears his family name. 
He was the first American to be made a Fellow of the Royal Society. 

Special inducements were sometimes made to physicians to locate in a town. 
At a town meeting in Weymouth on March 14, 1727, it was "voted to grant to 
Dr. Nathaniel White the five acres of land formerly granted to John Vinson, 
provided Doctor White continues in the town of Weymouth and in the practice 
of his profession, and in case he shall remove out of the town, said White to 
purchase said land or return it to the town again." Doctor White was born in 
Weymouth in 1701 and graduated at Harvard in 1725. He then studied medicine 
and began practice in his native town, accepting the grant above mentioned. It 
is related of him that when anyone called upon him to visit a patient when the 
weather was inclement, his answer was almost invariably, "It is too bad to go out," 
yet he always went. For years he resided at the corner of Main and Paul streets, 
Weymouth. He died on November 23, 1758. 

Dr. James Mann was born in Wrentham in 1758 and graduated at Harvard 
in 1776. He also received the degree of M. D. from Brown University and Yale 



384 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

College. At the beginning of the Revolution he was practicing in his native town. 
He entered the army as a surgeon and served for three years. During the War of 

1812 he held the post of hospital surgeon of the United States army and was 
chief of the medical staff on the northern frontier. After the war he was post 
surgeon for a time and published "Medical Sketches of the Campaigns of 1812, 

1813 and 1814." He died in 1832. 

Dr. Benjamin Richards was born in Weymouth on August 12, 1714. He 
studied medicine and practiced in North Weymouth for many years, becoming 
eminent in his profession. His death occurred on January 25, 1755. 

Dr. James Torrey was born at Ashford, Connecticut, in 1756. He first learned 
the trade of tanner and while working at that occupation studied medicine. His 
first practice was at Lebanon, Connecticut, and next at Nantucket, Massachusetts. 
During the Revolution he served as surgeon's mate in the Massachusetts militia. 
In 1783 he located at South Weymouth, where he continued in practice until a 
short time before his death on December 16, 181 7. 

Dr. Daniel French, a native of Hingham, was born about 1720, and practiced 
in East Weymouth for years. He died suddenly in 1775, while crossing a field 
to visit a patient. His grandson, Samuel French, later occupied the old home- 
stead on Commercial street. 

Another old time physician was Dr. Clifford Belcher, who was practicing in 
that part of Stoughton now Canton as early as June, 1739, as he was one of the 
signers of the petition to the General Court, asking for the establishment of a 
precinct. It is said that he and Rev. Samuel Dunbar, both men of powerful phy- 
sique, used to indulge in private wrestling matches and other tests of physical 
strength. He died on April 26, 1773, aged about sixty-three years. 

Dr. Samuel Gardner, a son of Rev. John Gardner, graduated at Harvard in 
1746, located in Milton about 1752, married Miss Mary Cooper, a granddaughter 
of William Foye, who was one of the Milton pioneers. He continued to practice 
in Milton until a short time before his death, which occurred on January 18, 
1778. One of his contemporary physicians in Milton was Dr. Eliot Rawson, of 
whom little can be learned. 

About 1759 Dr. Cotton Tufts settled in the northern part of the Town of 
Weymouth. He was a well educated, progressive man and took great interest in 
local political affairs and general social conditions. On March 10, 1760, he was 
chosen as Weymouth's agent to confer with representatives of other towns regard- 
ing the formation of a new county. For more than half a century he was one of 
the most prominent citizens and a physician of recognized ability. Two of his 
grandchildren — Quincy and Susan Tufts — presented the town of Weymouth with 
the public library known as the "Tufts Library" in 1879. 

Dr. Shadrach Winslow. who located in Foxboro about 1784, was a graduate 
of Yale College and a physician of fine qualifications. Before coming to Foxboro 
he had served as surgeon on a privateer, but was captured, carried to England 
and confined for several months in Dartmoor prison. While in prison his health 
became impaired to such an extent that he never completely recovered. 

Dr. Nathaniel Ames, son of Capt. Nathaniel Ames, was born in the Town of 
Bridgewater on July 22, 1708. When about twenty-four years of age he located 
in Dedham, where in September, 1735, he married Mary, daughter of Joshua 
Fisher. She died on November 11, 1737, and on October 30, 1740, Doctor Ames 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 385 

married Deborah, daughter of Jeremiah Fisher. One son of this union was 
Fisher Ames, mention of whom is made in another chapter. Shortly after his first 
marriage, Doctor Ames engaged in business as a tavern keeper and his house was 
a popular stopping place for many years. For thirty-eight years prior to his 
death he published an "almanack" annually. He has been described as "a man 
of acuteness and wit, of great activity and of a cheerful and amiable temper. To 
his skill in his profession he added a knowledge of natural philosophy, astronomy 
and mathematics." His death occurred on July n, 1764. His son Nathaniel 
graduated at Harvard in 1761, at the age of twenty years, studied medicine and 
practiced in Dedham until his death in 1822. For several years he continued the 
publication of the "almanacks" started by his father. 

Among the other physicians who practiced in the county prior to the beginning 
of the Ninenteenth Century were: Doctor Jirauld, a Frenchman, who located 
on a Medfield farm as early as 1729; Dr. George Crossman, who practiced in 
Canton and was town clerk for many years ; Dr. John Corbett, one of the early 
physicians of Bellingham; Dr. William Aspinwall of Brookline, who graduated 
in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1768; Dr. John Pitcher, who 
wa« in Canton for a few years beginning about 1759. Drs. Moses Baker, Jona- 
than Stone and Ralph Pope were all well known physicians in their day. 

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

Probably no physician in the early years of the Nineteenth Century achieved 
more prominence than Dr. Oliver Dean, who was born in Franklin on February 
18, 1783, attended the Framingham Academy and then began the study of medi- 
cine with Dr. James Mann, one of the early physicians of Wrentham. He com- 
pleted his studies under Doctor Ingalls of Boston and in 1809 received the degree 
of M. D. from the Massachusetts Medical Society. From that time until 1817 
he practiced in Boston and Medway, when his health failed and he became super- 
intendent of the Medway Cotton Mills. For the next twenty years he was con- 
nected with manufacturing enterprises. Late in life he bought part of the 
Emmons estate in Franklin and founded the Dean Academy there. 

Dr. Ebenezer Alden was born in Randolph on March 17, 1788. His father, 
who was also a physician, began practice in what is now Randolph about 1781. 
Dr. Ebenezer Alden graduated at Harvard in 1808 and four years later received 
the degree of M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Returning to his native 
town, he practiced there until a few years before his death on January 26, 1881. 

Dr. Appleton Howe was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, November 26, 
1792; was fitted for college at Phillips Andover Academy; graduated at Harvard 
in 1815; received the degree of M. D. from the medical department of that insti- 
tution in 1819, and soon afterward located in the Second Parish of Weymouth. 
For many years he was president of the old Norfolk County Medical Society. 
He was deeply interested in military matters and in 1839 was commissioned 
major-general of the First Division, Massachusetts militia. At one time he was 
captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. Besides attending to 
his professional work, he filled many positions of trust and responsibility. He 
was for many years president of the Weymouth Savings Bank, and was one of 

Vol. 1—25 



386 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

the officers of the Braintree Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 1841 he was 
elected state senator. He died at his Weymouth home on October 10, 1870. 

Dr. James A. Stetson was born in Braintree on December 28, 1806, grad- 
uated at Columbia College, New York, and received his medical degree from 
Harvard. He then located in Quincy, where he built up a lucrative practice and 
took high rank as a physician. At the time of his decease on March 15, 1880, it 
is said that he was the oldest practicing physician in Norfolk County. At one 
time he represented the town in the General Court, but preferred to give his 
attention to his profession rather than to political affairs. 

A volume could be filled with the personal sketches of Norfolk County physi- 
cians, but from those given the reader can easily judge the type of men who 
engaged in the practice of the profession during the first, and part of the last, 
half of the Nineteenth Century. Others of equal skill and prominence were: 
Dr. Shadrach At wood, who came to Bellingham about 1828 and some nine years 
later removed to Franklin, where he continued in practice until his death; Dr. 
Ebenezer Stone, who practiced in Walpole from 1824 to 1869; Dr. Isaac Smith 
of Foxboro, who was engaged in the ministry for many years, until his voice 
failed, when, having previously obtained a medical education followed that pro- 
fession for the remainder of his life with great success, and Dr. George A. 
Southgate, who came to Dedham in 1863 and practiced there for many years. 

MEDICAL SOCIETIES 

The Massachusetts Medical Society was organized in 1782, "by the better 
educated physicians to establish a standard of medical education." The Norfolk 
District Medical Society, one of the subordinate organizations auxiliary to the 
State Medical Society, was organized in 1850, with the following charter mem- 
bers: Andrew Alexander, Henry Blanchard, Benjamin E. Cotting, Lemuel 
Dickerman, George Faulkner, John S. Flint, David S. Fogg, Tappan E. Francis, 
James F. Harlow, Edward Jarvis, George King, Henry A. Martin, John P. May- 
nard, Horatio G. Morse, Joseph H. Streeter and Benjamin F. Wing. 

The society has been in continuous existence since its organization and now 
has a strong membership. The officers for 191 5 (the latest list available) were 
as follows : Dr. M. V. Pierce, president ; Dr. T. F. Greene, vice president ; Dr. 
Bradford Kent, secretary; Dr. G. W. Kaan, treasurer; Drs. E. P. Starbird, R. W. 
Hastings, B. N. Bridgman, W. C. Kite, M. J. Cronin, censors; Dr. A. P. Perry, 
commissioner of trials. 

The Norfolk South District Medical Society includes the towns of Avon, 
Braintree, Cohasset, Hingham, Hull, Quincy, Randolph and Weymouth. The 
officers of this society in 1916 were: Dr. F. C. Granger, president; Dr. J. H. Ash, 
vice president; Dr. F. H. Merriam, secretary and treasurer; Drs. F. C. Granger, 
C. S. Adams, J. C. Fraser and J. A. Gordon, councilors; Drs. J. C. Fraser, W. 
A. Drake, W. J. McCausland, T. J. Dion and F. E. Jones, censors; Dr. N. S. 
Hunting, commissioner of trials; Dr. F. H. Merriam, librarian. 

HOMEOPATHY 

It is not certain who was the first homeopathic physician to practice in Nor- 
folk County, but one of the earliest was Dr. Charles Wild of Brookline. He was 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 387 

born in Boston on January 15, 1795, and graduated at Harvard in 1814. Three 
years later he received the degree of M. D. from the medical department of that 
famous institution and in the spring of 1818 located in Brookline. For about 
twenty years he practiced according to the methods of the old allopathic school, 
becoming a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1828. In 1839 his 
attention was called to Hahnemann's new theory of medical practice, and after 
■investigating it espoused the system of homeopathic treatment. On February 
16, 1841, the few pioneers of homeopathy in Massachusetts held their second 
meeting at the residence of Doctor Wild, and on that occasion was adopted the 
constitution and by-laws of the Massachusetts Homeopathic Medical Society, of 
which he was at one time president in after years. He died at North Providence, 
Rhode Island, February 3, 1864. 

Dr. David Thayer, another physician whose experience was similar to that of 
Doctor Wild's was born in Braintree on July 19, 1813. After attending the 
schools of his native town he became a student at Weymouth Academy, and in 
1833 entered Phillips Andover Academy to fit himself for college. Shortly after 
that George Thompson, the noted English anti-slavery orator, lectured in Ando- 
ver and young Thayer was one of his converts. The faculty forbade the forma- 
tion of an anti-slavery society among the students, or the discussion of the slavery 
question in the societies. About forty students, among whom was David Thayer, 
then withdrew from the institution. He then completed his preparations for 
college in the Appleton Academy at New Ipswich, New Hampshire, and in 1840 
graduated at Union College. Flis father died in 1842 and soon after that David 
entered the medical department of Harvard College, though he had not at that 
time made up his mind ever to become a practitioner. In 1843 ne received the 
degree of M. D. from the Berkshire Medical Institute, located at Pittsfield, Mas- 
sachusetts. The next year he began practice and in 1845 opened a dispensary in 
Boylston Hall, in connection with Dr. C. F. Hofrendahl, a homeopathic physician, 
for free medical treatment of the poor of Boston. From Dr. Hofrendahl he 
learned a great deal about the homeopathic theories and in 1847 joined the 
Massachusetts Homeopathic Medical Society, of which he was elected president 
in 1870. 

In 1873 Doctor Thayer and seven other homeopathic physicians, also members 
of the "regular" or allopathic school, were expelled from the Massachusetts Med- 
ical Society, "for conduct unworthy and unbecoming an honorable physician and 
member of the society." Their offense was practicing medicine according to 
homeopathic teachings. When the Boston University was established, Doctor 
Thayer was active in organizing the medical department on a homeopathic 
basis. In that department he held the chair of Practice and Institutes of Medi- 
cine for eight years. 

Although the number of homeopathic physicians in Norfolk County has never 
been large, when compared with the physicians of the old school, they have shown 
themselves to be as earnest in their endeavors to check the ravages of disease 
as their professional allopathic brethren. In fact the physicians of Norfolk 
County, irrespective of the system which they employ, will compare favorably 
with those of any county in the Union. 



388 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

DR. WILLIAM T. G. MORTON 

Dr. William T. G. Morton was born at Charlton, Worcester County, in 1819, 
studied dentistry and began practice in 1842. While studying medicine with Dr. 
Charles T. Jackson about two years later he discovered the value of sulphuric 
ether as a local anesthetic, first using it in dental work. He obtained a patent on 
his discovery for which he refused $100,000 offered by the United States Con- 
gress. Ether was first used in a surgical operation at the Massachusetts General 
Hospital in October, 1846, in the removal of a facial tumor, though a Dr. C. W. 
Long of Georgia claimed that he used it as early as 1842. Doctor Morton lived 
at one time in Medfield, Norfolk County. 




MORTON' HOUSE, THE HOME OF DR. WILLIAM T. G. MORTON. 
DIS< OVEREE OF ANESTHESIA 



CHAPTER XLV 
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

DEDHAM SCHOOL TABLET — FIRST FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN AMERICA — FIRST SCHOOL 

HOUSE EARLY TEACHERS — AMES SCHOOL OTHER EARLY SCHOOLS PUBLIC 

SCHOOL STATISTICS ADAMS ACADEMY BROOKLINE CLASSICAL SCHOOL DEAN 

ACADEMY — WOODWARD INSTITUTE WELLESLEY COLLEGE THAYER ACADEMY 

WEYMOUTH AND BRAINTREE ACADEMY — UNION TRAINING SCHOOL — AGRICUL- 
TURAL SCHOOL — MISCELLANEOUS. 

Near the Unitarian Church and facing High street, in the Town of Dedham, 
is a large bowlder, to which is attached a bronze tablet bearing the following 
inscription : 

This Tablet is erected by the 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts 

To Commemorate the Establishment 

by the Inhabitants of Dedham 

in Town Meeting Assembled 

on the First of January 1644 

of a Free Public School 

to be Maintained by General Taxation 

Near this Spot Stood the 

First School House Built by the Town 

1649. 

The history of this first free public school in America, as shown by the Ded- 
ham town records, is as follows: On January 2, 1643, a town meeting, attended 
by fifty-one citizens, was considering the allotment of land. The record of that 
meeting contains this statement: "It was with an unanimous consent concluded 
that some Portion of ye land in this entended Division should be set apart for 
Publique use : viz for the Towne, the Church and a f re Schoole : viz 40 acres at 
the leaste or 60 acres at the moste." 

There the matter rested for a year, but at another meeting held on January 
1, 1644, the subject of establishing a free school again came up for considera- 
tion. The manner in which the question was disposed of is told in the following 
record of the meeting : 

"The said Inhabitants taking into Consideration the greate Necesitie of pro- 
viding some means for the Education of the youth in o'r s'd Towne did with an 
unanimous consent declare by voate their willingness to promoate that worke 
promising to put too their hands to Provide maintenance for a Free Schoole in 

389 



390 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

our said Towne. And farther did resolve & consent testifying it by voate to 
rayse the summe of 20 pounds p annu towards the maintaining of a School M r 
to keepe a free schoole in our s'd Towne. 

"And also did resolve & Consent to betrust the s'd 20 £ p annu & certain 
lands in our Towne formerly set apart for publique use into the hand of Feofees 
(trustees) to be presently chosen by them selves to imploy the sd 20 £ and the 
land afores'd to be improved for the use of the said Schoole : that as the profnts 
shall arise from ye sd land every man may be proportionately abated his some 
of ye sd 20 £ aforesaid freely to be given to the use afores'd And y l ye said 
Feofees shall have power to make a Rate for the necessary charg of improving 
said land: they giving account thereof to the Towne or to those whom they 
should depute. John Hunting, Eld r , Eliazer Lusher, Francis Chickeringe, John 
Dwight & Michael Powell are chosen Feofees & betrusted in behalfe of the 
schoole as afore said." 

FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE 

The history of this first American free school during the first five years of 
its existence has not been preserved. There is a tradition that Ralph Wheelock, 
the ancestor of the first .and second presidents of Dartmouth College, was one of 
the early teachers. John Brock, a son of Henry Brock, one of the signers of 
the Dedham Covenant, graduated at Harvard in 1646, and it is believed he 
taught in Dedham the following year. Where the school was taught is a matter 
of conjecture. 

On January 15, 1649, a town meeting was held, in the minutes of which is 
the following entry : "A schoole house to be built as followeth, together with a 
watch house, the length 18 foote being 14 foote beside the chimney : the wideness 
15 foote the studd 9 foote betwixt joynts one floor of Joyce: 2 convenient win- 
dowes in the lower roome & one in ye chamber the plancher layed the floor 
planked the stayers made the sides boarded feather edged & rabitted the doors 
made & Hanged. 

"The watch house to be a leanto sett at the back of the chimney sixe foote 
wide the length thereof 2 foote & one half more than ye house is wide so placed 
that the end therof may Extend past the corner of ye house so that the watcti 
may have an Aspect 4 severall wayes & open windowes therein suitable to a 
watch house : & covered w th board up to those windowes & upon ye roofe & a 
mandle tree hewen & fitted for ye Chimney." 

Such were the specifications for the first school house erected at public 
expense in the New World. It was located near the spot where the bowlder 
and tablet above mentioned are now situated. Among the early teachers in this 
house were Jacob Farrow, Joshua Fisher, Michael Metcalf, Joseph Ellis and 
Samuel Mann. Joshua Fisher appears to have agreed to "keepe ye schoole" for 
a short time only when it was found difficult to secure another teacher. At the 
close of his term the town records show that "Lieut. Fisher is requested and 
undertakes to repayer the broken panes of glass in ye meeting house so farre as 
he may finde glass spare for that use." From this it may be inferred that the 
school boys of 1654 were as careless in playing ball or hurling stones as those 
of the present day, and the school house was too near the church for the safety 
of the windows of that structure. 




HISTORICAL HITLDINU. DKDHAM 




pi* 



i THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BY THE 1 

?60MM0NWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS 1 

JTO COMMEMORATE THE ESTABLISHMENT 1 

fs BY THE INHABITANTS OF DEDHAM 1 

IN TOWN MEETINC ASSEMBLED I 

■ ON THE PIP.ST OF JANUARY I6M I 

OF A FP>Efc PUBLIC SCHOOL- 
TO BE MANNED BY GENERA. ; ™£™N 
I NEAR THIS SPOT STOOP T« 
1 RRST SCHOOL HOUSE BUILf BT THE TOWN | 
1649 _ 



SITK OF FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL IN AMERICA, DKDHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 391 

On Washington street, about two blocks southerly from Memorial Hall, 
stands a fine modern school building, which is evidently regarded by the people 
of Dedham as the successor of the first school established in the town, as over 
the main entrance is the following inscription: 

1644— AMES SCHOOL— 1897 

Named in Honor of Fisher Ames 

A Native of Dedham, A Wise Statesman 

and a Friend of Washington. 

OTHER EARLY SCHOOLS 

Although Dedham is credited with being the first town to establish a school 
supported by taxation, it must not be inferred that the subject of education was 
neglected in the other towns. As a rule, as soon as a church was established by 
the early settlers, they began to take measures to educate their children. These 
early schools were partly supported by assessments upon each scholar, the tuition 
fees being made payable in wood. As nearly every parent owned land upon 
which there was a growth of timber, all that was required to pay the assess- 
ments was a little labor. 

There is a tradition that William Coddington gave to the Town of Brain- 
tree certain lands, the income of which was to be used for the support of a school 
When the town was divided the fund arising from this source was also divided 
The record relating to the Coddington grant is headed : "The Schoole Land: 
1640," but it is incomplete, owing to its great age and the worn state of the paper 
In the margin are the words : "Deed of the Land recovered of Mr. Coddington.' 
Some years ago Samuel A. Bates investigated this subject, and his conclusion is 
as follows : "That the Town of Braintree sued Coddington is undeniable, that 
the courts allowed the town this land is substantiated, and that the town paid for 
the land is equally true. Did Coddington then give this land for the benefit of 
the schools ? I answer, decidedly, No ; and until some evidence is produced to 
substantiate that claim, I shall adhere to that opinion." 

The land referred to is the tract known as "Coddington's Neck." Whether 
it was given by the original owner for educational purposes or not, a school was 
established in Braintree soon after the town was organized. It is believed that 
Henry Flint, teacher of the First Church, was also the first schoolmaster. A 
mutilated record of 1648 contains an account of the sale of the school house by 
Mr. Flint to Dr. John Morly, who was probably the second teacher. That 
school was located within the present limits of Quincy. After the town was 
divided a school was established in the present Town of Braintree. Says Mr. 
Bates: "On October 1, 1716, the selectmen agreed with Joseph Parmiter to 
keep the school at Monotoquod for six shillings per week and his diet. What 
his diet cost we know not, as Mr. Peter Hobart received about six pounds for 
diet and a pair of shoes, together with a part of his school wages. He was 
engaged the next year at eleven shillings per week." 

To attempt to trace the formation and development of the schools in all the 
towns of the county, even if the records were complete, would require much 
space. In Medfield a school was established "at the town's expense" in 1655, 



392 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

with Ralph Wheelock as the teacher. Mr. Wheelock was the ancestor of the 
first and second presidents of Dartmouth College. The first school house was 
built in Medfield in 1666. It was fourteen feet wide and eighteen feet long. 

Brookline's school history begins with the vote of the Boston town meeting 
of December 8, 1686, when the settlement at Muddy River was given the privilege 
of managing its own affairs, on condition that "the Inhabitants raise a Scholl 
hous and maintayne an Able reading and writing master." The first school 
house was built on School street, then known as "School House Lane." John 
Searl was one of the early teachers. 

On October 28, 1697, the Town of Medfield appropriated "fifty shillings for 
schooling the children on the west side of Charles River." This was the first 
step toward the establishment of a school in the Town of Millis (then Medway), 
and Joseph Daniell was employed in May, 1699, to teach the school. 

Wrentham's first school dates its beginning from a town meeting called for 
December 19, 1701, "to act upon the subject of establishing a school as the law 
direct." There were then the requisite number of householders (fifty) in the 
town, and the matter of establishing a school could no longer be postponed. The 
meeting voted to procure a schoolmaster, but it seems none was "procurable." 
The first school house was built in 1702, and the first school in that building was 
taught by Theodore Mann. 

Needham was incorporated in 171 1 and Bellingham in 1719. It is known 
that schools were established in both towns soon after their incorporation, but 
just when and where the first school was taught, or who was the teacher, cannot 
be ascertained. 

In Cohasset the first reference to school matters bears date of March 31, 
1 72 1, when "John Farrow, Obediah Lincoln and Joseph Bate are chosen to take 
care concerning the school, and to take the money from Hingham, and to dispose 
of it as followeth : One third part of it to be paid to a school dame for teaching 
the children to read, and two-thirds of the money to be disposed of to teach the 
children to write and cipher." 

On March 28, 1734, at a town meeting in Stoughton "it was put to vote 
whether ye town would build a School house and it past in ye affirmative, also 
voted to grant a tax of twenty Pounds to be laid out in building said House & 
that said School house should be set on ye Town's land near ye Meeting house." 
That was the first school house in what is now the Town of Canton. 

In Dover the first precinct meetings (1748) were held in a school house "near 
the dwelling house of Joseph dickering," hence it is probable that the first 
school was taught prior to that year, while the town was a parish of Dedham. 

The first school in what is now Foxboro was taught in 1772, by Jeremiah 
Fisher, who received six shillings a week. He was succeeded by Lydia Morse, 
who taught for three shillings a week. 

On May 20, 1778, the new Town of Franklin, which had been incorporated 
in March before, voted two hundred pounds for the support of schools. Schools 
were taught in Weymouth at an early date, but as late as the year 1800 the 
appropriation for school purposes was only about five hundred dollars. In the 
towns incorporated since the Revolution, the schools were established under the 
laws of the Commonwealth. During the Revolution the school funds in several 




ADAMS ACADEMY, QUINCY 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 393 

of the towns were diverted to military purposes to aid in bringing the War for 
Independence to a successful issue. 

In the chapters relating to the several towns of the county are given statistics 
showing the status of the public schools in 1916, but it may be well to recapitu- 
late here the educational status of the county as a unit. At the close of the year 
1916 there were 192 public school buildings, valued at over twenty millions of 
dollars; 1,146 teachers were employed during the school year of 1915-16, and 
the total amount expended by the various towns for educational purposes was 
$i>3i5,975- 

ADAMS ACADEMY 

In 1822 John Adams, ex-President of the United States, gave to the Town 
of Quincy, in trust, 211 acres of land and two tracts of cedar swamp (number 
of acres not stated), to found a classical school in his native town. One pro- 
vision of the gift was : "That all future rents and emoluments arising from 
said land be applied to the support of a school for the teaching of Greek and 
Latin languages, and any other languages, arts and sciences, which a majority 
of the ministers, magistrates, lawyers and physicians inhabiting in said town may 
advise. . . . That as soon as the funds will be sufficient, a schoolmaster 
should be procured, learned in the Greek and Roman languages, and if thought 
advisable, the Hebrew," etc. 

It was Mr. Adams' wish that the income should be allowed to accumulate 
until a sufficient amount was on hand to erect a suitable building for such a 
school as he had in contemplation. Four efforts were made by the trustees to 
erect a building before one met with success, viz: in 1832, 1846, 1850 and i860. 
The building was commenced in 1861, on the site of the old Hancock residence, 
and was constructed of stone, with brick trimmings, according to the wish ex- 
pressed by Mr. Adams before his death. It was completed in 1871, at a cost of 
$28,868, and was opened in September, 1872, with W. R. Dimmock, LL.D., in 
charge. Twenty-three students were enrolled at the opening of the first term. 
Five years later the number of students was 150. 

Mr. Adams' object was to found a school similar to the academies at Exeter, 
Andover, etc., to prepare boys for college. October 19th is observed by the 
school as "Founder's Day," Mr. Adams having been born on October 19, 1735. 

BROOKLINE CLASSICAL SCHOOL 

In 1823 the "Brookline Classical School" was incorporated by John Pierce, 
Richard Sullivan, Elisha Penniman, Thomas Griggs, Elijah Corey, Ebenezer 
Heath, Dr. Charles Wild, Augustus Aspinwall, and their "associates and suc- 
cessors." A building was erected on Boylston street, afterward sold to Doctor 
Shurtleff, and the school was opened with David H. Barlow as the first teacher. 
He was followed by Gideon F. Thayer. It was continued under the original 
incorporation until about 1837, when it passed into the hands of George B. 
Emerson, who conducted a school for boys with varying success for two or three 
years, when the institution was closed. 



394 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

DEAN ACADEMY 

At the annual session of the Universalist convention in October, 1864, a 
committee was appointed, with Rev. A. St. John Chambre, of Stoughton as 
chairman, "with full discretionary powers to establish a denominational school 
of the highest grade below colleges." The Town of Stoughton offered a site 
and $25,000, but this offer was outbid by Dr. Oliver Dean, of Franklin, who 
offered a tract of eight or nine acres of land, $10,000 for buildings, and $50,000 
for a permanent fund. 

Doctor Dean's offer was accepted and ground was broken for the building in 
August, 1866. The corner-stone was laid on May 16, 1867, and the structure was 
dedicated on May 28, 1868. Its cost was $154,000. It has a frontage of 220 
feet and is 60 feet deep, with two wings, each 44 by 50 feet, all three stories in 
height. The school was opened, however, before the building was completed, in 
the vestry of the Universalist Church, the opening day being October 1, 1866. 
T. G. Senter was the first principal and forty-four students were enrolled. 

On July 31, 1872, the academy building was destroyed by fire with a loss of 
nearly the entire contents. The school was then conducted in the Franklin House 
until the present building was completed and dedicated on June 24, 1874. The first 
term of school in the new academy was opened in September of that year. The 
Dean Academy has always sustained a high reputation as an educational institu- 
tion and it is now one of the "show places" of Franklin. 

WOODWARD INSTITUTE 

The school for girls and young women known as the Woodward Institute is 
located at Quincy. It was founded by Dr. Ebenezer Woodward, who died with- 
out issue in 1869 and left a fund for the establishment of such a school. Ten 
years later the fund amounted to nearly eighty thousand dollars. One of the 
provisions of the will of Doctor Woodward was that the minister of the Unitarian 
Church should be the perpetual chairman of the board of managers. The report 
of the treasurer of the Woodward fund for 1916 gives the value of the Institute 
grounds and building as $58,900, and the total fund as $364,112.76. The insti- 
tution employs twelve instructors. 

WELLESLEY COLLEGE 

Wellesley College was founded by Henry Fowle Durant. The corner-stone 
of the first building was laid by Mrs. Durant on August 18, 1871, and on Septem- 
ber 14th the corner-stone of the main building was laid. The school was opened 
on September 8, 1875, with about three hundred students and twenty-nine in- 
structors. Miss Ada J. Howard was the first president of the institution. In 
1916 the college enrolled over fifteen hundred students and the faculty numbered 
nearly three hundred — almost as many as the number of students at the opening 
in 1875. The principal buildings of Wellesley are the Memorial Chapel, the 
Library, Music Hall, Billings Hall, Stone Hall, the Farnsworth Art Building, 
and the "Quadrangle," around which are arranged the new dormitories, the gym- 
nasium, the society houses and the heating and lighting plants. Then there are 




COLLEGE HALL, WKLLESLLY COLLEGE 




MUSIC HALL. WELLESLEY COLLEGE 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 395 

the "Cottages on the Hill," the whole representing an investment of several mil- 
lions of dollars. 

THAYER ACADEMY 

Gen. Sylvanus Thayer, of Braintree, died in 1873, and in his will left a fund 
of $200,000 "to establish a literary institution of a high grade," on condition that 
the town would give $20,000. In the event that Braintree refused to appropriate 
the required amount, then the Towns of Randolph and Holbrook were to be 
given the opportunity to secure the school by such an appropriation, and if neither 
of these towns accepted the offer, the academy was to go to Quincy. Braintree 
accepted the proposition, voted the $20,000 and appointed trustees in accordance 
with the terms of the will. 

No movement toward establishment of the school was made for several 
years. In 1876 the trustees reported that the fund had reached $260,000, and 
work was then commenced on a building. The academy stands on a beautiful 
campus on Washington street, a short distance north of the town hall. The 
building cost $60,000 and the first term of school was opened on September 12, 
1877. ' 

WEYMOUTH AND BRAINTREE ACADEMY 

In the latter part of the year 1827 some of the citizens of Weymouth Landing 
took the first steps toward the establishment of an institution of learning to teach 
the higher branches. As a result of the agitation the Weymouth and Braintree 
Academy was incorporated on February 28, 1828, by Dr. Cotton Tufts, Noah 
Fifield, Joseph Loud and their associates. Capt. Warren Weston donated a site 
on the Weymouth and Braintree turnpike and a building was erected thereon. 
The school opened with a Mr. Gregg in charge and soon after a Mr. Goodell was 
employed as an assistant teacher. These teachers were succeeded in a few months 
by Samuel T. Worcester and Miss Mary F. R. Wales, who were married in the 
spring of 1830 and gave up teaching. Calvin E. Park and Miss Lucy M. Barstow 
then took charge of the school and are believed to be the last teachers employed 
by the original incorporators. A few terms of private school were then taught in 
the building by different persons, and in 1833 tne building was sold and was con- 
verted into a double tenement. It was burned in 1844. 

UNION TRAINING SCHOOL 

The Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth Union Training School was established 
under the act of March 24, 1881, which provides that: "When three or more 
cities or towns in each of two or three counties, or in the case of Norfolk, Bristol, 
Barnstable and Plymouth counties, of four contiguous counties, so require, the 
county commissioners of such counties shall, at the expense of the same, establish 
a truant school at a convenient place therein," etc. 

Several years passed after the passage of the act before any steps were taken 
toward the establishment of such an institution in any of the four counties desig- 
nated. In 1887 the commissioners of Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth counties 



396 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

joined in a movement for such a school, and on November 21, 1887, the com- 
missioners of Norfolk County issued an order for purchase of the property for- 
merly occupied by the Consumptives' Home in the Town of Walpole. The deed 
was executed by the trustees of the Consumptives' Home the same day, the con- 
sideration being $11,207.59. 

About two years were then spent in preparing the school for the reception of 
pupils. On November 26, 1889, Aaron R. Morse, of Franklin, was appointed 
master, and his wife, Sarah G. Morse, was appointed matron and teacher. In 
191 6 the real estate (land and buildings) belonging to the school was valued at 
$21,500 and the personal property at $4,000. The cost of maintaining the school 
for that year was $13,218.25, of which Norfolk County's appropriation was 
$4,100. The present superintendent of the school is James H. Craig. 

AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL 

The Norfolk County Agricultural School was established under the act of 
April 21, 1915, the principal provision of which is as follows: "At the next state 
election there shall be placed upon the official ballots for the County of Norfolk 
the following question: 'Shall the County of Norfolk authorize the county com- 
missioners to issue bonds of said county to an amount not exceeding $75,000 for 
the purpose of establishing an independent agricultural school ?' " 

It was further provided in the act that, in the event a majority of the voters 
decided in favor of establishing the school, the governor should, with the advice 
and consent of the council, appoint four residents of the county to act with the 
county commissioners as a board of trustees, the persons so appointed to serve 
without salary, but to be compensated for actual expenses in the performance of 
their duty. The governor appointed Ernest H. Gilbert, of Stoughton; Guy A. 
Ham, of Milton; Charles L. Merritt, of South Weymouth; and Patrick 
O'Loughlin, of Brookline, as the four trustees to act with the county commis- 
sioners — Evan F. Richardson, John F. Merrill and Everett M. B ( owker. 

On May 6, 1916, the board voted unanimously to purchase the Bullard and 
Ellis properties on Main street, North Walpole, as a site for the school. The 
sum of $75,000 authorized by the voters at the preceding election, was then bor- 
rowed for the purchase of real estate, buildings, live stock and equipment, and 
the further sum of $8,400 was appropriated for the maintenance of the institu- 
tion. Frederic W. Kingman was employed as director and the school was opened 
on October 9, 1916, with forty-two pupils enrolled. For the better accommoda- 
tion of pupils living in the eastern part of the county, the trustees have established 
a branch in connection with the Weymouth High School. This branch is under 
the charge of Charles W. Kemp, a graduate of the New Hampshire Agricultural 
College. In his first report Mr. Kingman states the object of the school "to pre- 
- pare its students in the most practical and scientific manner to become intelligent 
and efficient farmers." 

The cost of maintenance the first year was $8,529.18, of which the United 
States Government contributed $750 and the Massachusetts Agricultural Col- 
lege $250, making the net cost to the county and state $7,529.18, one-half of 
which the state assumes. In their report for the year ending on Decern- 




POMEROY HALL, WELLKSLKY COLLEGE 




LIRRAKY, WELLKSLKY COLLEGE 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 397 

ber 31, 191 6, the county commissioners give the value of the property owned by 
the school (including the cash balance) as $75,000. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

There were at different times other private schools in the county, but they 
perished without leaving much of their history behind them. In a number of the 
Catholic parishes are parochial schools, maintained by the church and taught by 
the sisters of some of the Catholic orders. 



CHAPTER XLVI 
NORFOLK COUNTY PRESS 

THE COLUMBIAN MINERVA EARLY DEDHAM NEWSPAPERS QUINCY PATRIOT — THE 

AURORA — EARLY NEWSPAPERS OF FOXBORO RANDOLPH — STOUGHTON — WEY- 
MOUTH BROOKLINE FRANKLIN NEEDHAM WALPOLE BRAINTREE — 

MILTON — NEWSPAPERS IN I917 — LIST ARRANGED BY TOWNS. 

The first newspaper in Norfolk County was the Columbian Minerva, which 
was located at Dedham. Concerning this paper Herman Mann, in his Annals of 
Dedham, says: "Columbian Minerva commenced in October, 1796. In Decem- 
ber, 1797, the printing establishment was purchased by Herman Mann, Sr., who 
then became the proprietor and editor of the paper. It was discontinued Septem- 
ber 4, 1804, when its editor in his valedictory address to the patrons of the paper 
remarks — 'Few persons of the present day are willing to labor, either with hands 
or head, without compensation, and, generally, what is called a handsome profit. 
While I am ready, and do, from my heart, lament my inabilities as an editor to 
make it (the Minerva) of the utmost utility — I have to deplore the want of en- 
couragement to bring every latent spark of genius into its best exercise.' " 

It is not definitely known who were the founders of the Minerva, but the 
credit has been given to Nathaniel and Benjamin Heaton. In the Minerva of 
June 12, 1800, was the following obituary notice: "Died, at Wrentham, Mr. 
Benjamin Heaton, formerly one of the editors of the Minerva," and the author 
of the Annals of Dedham thinks it probable that Herman Mann purchased the 
paper from the Heatons. 

After the suspension of the Minerva in September, 1804, the county was 
without a newspaper for about seven months. On May 14, 1805, Herman Mann 
again ventured into the field with the Norfolk Repository. It was published reg- 
ularly every week until September 17, 1805, when the "post-rider" suddenly 
absconded with a considerable portion of the funds belonging to the establish- 
ment and the publication of the Repository was "unavoidably suspended." It 
was revived on March 25, 1806, and was then published in an eight page quarto 
form until 181 1. 

Jabez Chickering started the Dedham Gazette, with Theron Metcalf as editor. 
On January I, 1819, the outfit was purchased by Herman Mann, Jr., and William 
H. Mann, who continued the publication for about six months, when the Gazette 
gave up the ghost for want of adequate support, the owners devoting their time 
and attention to job printing. 

The next newspaper in the county was the Village Register, the first number 
of which appeared on June 9, 1820. Asa Gowen was the proprietor and the paper 
was printed by the Mann Brothers. On September 15, 1820, Mr. Gowen soid 

398 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 399 

the Register to Jonathan H. Cobb, who published it for about a year. Barnum 
Field was then the proprietor until October 18, 1822, when he sold to the Mann 
Brothers. The paper was discontinued in November, 1829. 

About a month after the last number of the Village Register was issued, John 
B. Derby started the Norfolk County Republican, which was printed by the 
Manns. It lasted only one year. 

On the last day of the year 1830 the Dedham Patriot made its appearance, 
published by H. & W. H. Mann. The latter soon afterward sold his interest to 
John B. Tolman, and the paper was published by Mann & Tolman until August 
26, 1 83 1, when Herman Mann became the sole proprietor. By this time the pop- 
ulation of the county had grown so that a local newspaper received better support, 
and the Patriot met with better success than any of its predecessors. On January 
1, 1836, the establishment passed into the hands of S. C. & E. Mann, who em- 
ployed John S. Houghton as editor. In October following the name was 
changed to Dedham Patriot and Canton Gazette. Other changes in ownership 
and name followed until in June, 1842, when it was called the Norfolk County 
American. Edward L. Keyes came into possession in May, 1844, and two years 
later the plant was removed to Roxbury. 

In 183 1 L. Powers began the publication of the Independent Politician and 
Workingmen's Advocate, the first number appearing on New Year's day. Joseph 
H. Wilder was the editor. The following fall Ebenezer Fish purchased the 
paper, and in July, 1832, the name was changed to Norfolk Advertiser and Inde- 
pendent Politician. On April 2, 1836, it appeared simply as the Norfolk Adver- 
tiser. Elbridge G. Robinson became the proprietor on August 1, 1837, and on 
February 1, 1839, the name was changed to the Norfolk Democrat — or rather 
the Advertiser was discontinued and the Democrat commenced. In 1854 it was 
consolidated with the Dedham Gazette, then published in Hyde Park by Henry 
O. Hildreth. 

On January 1, 1837, the Quincy Patriot entered the journalistic field. It was 
a small sheet, 20 by 30 inches, four pages, and was started by John A. Green and 
Edward A. Osborne. The latter remained with the paper only about three 
months, when Mr. Green became the proprietor and continued at the head of the 
paper until July 1, 1851, when he disposed of it to Gideon F. Thayer and George 
White, who increased the size of the sheet to 22 by 32 inches. Two years later the 
paper was repurchased by Mr. Green, who conducted it until his death in 1861. 
George W. Prescott then formed a partnership with Mrs. Green, under the 
firm name of Green & Prescott, which lasted for over a quarter of a century. 
The Patriot (now the Patriot-Ledger) is the oldest paper in Norfolk County. 
It is an independent paper and is published every afternoon except Sunday, with 
George T. Magee as editor and the George W. Prescott Company, publishers. 
The Wednesday and Saturday editions are issued as a semi-weekly. 

The Quincy Aurora was started by Charles Clapp on January 1, 1843, and 
continued for about three years, and the Quincy Free Press, started in 1878, has 
also gone to join the "innumerable caravan." 

J. E. & Edson Carpenter ran a paper called the Salmagundi Journal at Fox- 
boro from November, 1849. to January, 1850. The Country Times, another Fox- 
boro newspaper, was published by Henry C. Buffum from April 12, 1856, to 
April 5, 1857. In the latter year the Home Library was issued for about six 



400 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

months, under the editorship of John Littlefield. The Foxboro Journal was 
edited by Robert W. Carpenter and published by James M. Stewart from Febru- 
ary, 1873, to September, 1878. 

In March, 1873, the Foxboro Times was started by E. W. Clarke, R. W. 
Carpenter and others and ran with varying success until 1884, when it was suc- 
ceeded by the Reporter, which is now published as an independent newspaper 
every Saturday by J. H. Alden, with G. M. Barron as editor. 

Randolph's first newspaper — the Transcript and Advertiser — began its exist- 
ence on March 14, 1857, with Samuel P. Brown as editor and proprietor. It 
was discontinued in August, 1862, but was revived until October, 1863, when it 
was again discontinued. On January 7, 1865, it was again resuscitated and the 
following October Mr. Brown sold the establishment to Joseph Jones, who kept 
it but a short time. After several changes in ownership, D. H. Huxford became 
the proprietor in March, 1873, when the name was changed to the East Norfolk 
Register. Mr. Huxford continued to publish the paper for several years, when 
he became interested in other enterprises and it was discontinued. 

The Stoughton Sentinel, now the second oldest paper in the county, was 
launched on November 10, i860, by William H. Jewell. The first number was 
printed in the Town of Canton. At that time the country was in a state of tur- 
moil over the question of secession. Mr. Jewell took the position that the South- 
ern States ought to be allowed to withdraw in peace from the Union. A senti- 
ment of that kind was not popular in Massachusetts and the Sentinel was soon 
forced to suspend for want of patronage. William W. & C. A. Wood then pur- 
chased the outfit and on November 7, 1863, the first number of the Sentinel 
under the new management came from the press. In October, 1864, when the 
call came for volunteers for one hundred days, both the editors enlisted and the 
Sentinel was suspended during the time they were in the service. In September, 
1865, it was again suspended for a short time, when Pratt & Hasty purchased the 
paper and resumed publication, printing it in Randolph. In September, 1882, 
L. W. Standish took charge of the editorial department and later became the 
owner. He is still the editor and proprietor and the Sentinel is issued every 
Saturday as a Republican newspaper. 

In 1867 C. G. Easterbrook began the publication of the Weymouth Gazette. 
Mr. Easterbrook's success induced others to enter the newspaper field and the 
Courier was started in 1876, in East Weymouth, by Jones & Company. It lasted 
only about a year, and in 1877 the Weymouth Advance was launched by C. F. 
David. Its office was in East Weymouth and it was continued for about two 
years. A paper called the Transcript was consolidated with the Gazette, and the 
Gazette and Transcript is now published every Friday as an independent news- 
paper under the editorial management of Frank F. Prescott, the Gazette & 
Transcript Publishing Company being the publishers. 

Bradford Kingman issued the first number of the Brookline Transcript on 
October 15, 1870. The last number of this pape,r was dated May 31, 1873. On 
July 4, 1873, Dr. N. C. Towle started the Brookline Independent. It was pub- 
lished by a club, which had a special object in view, and lived but a short time. 

The first newspaper in Franklin was the Register, which was started in Octo- 
ber, 1872, by James M. Stewart, who continued its publication until his removal 
from the town in 1881. Three years before the suspension of the Register, R. E. 




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NORWOOD PRESS. NORWOOD 




PLIMPTON PRESS, NORWOOD 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 401 

Capron began the publication of the Franklin Sentinel. In 1883 it passed into 
the hands of Houston & Lincoln, who greatly improved the appearance and con- 
tents of the paper. The Sentinel has maintained its existence through various 
ups and downs and is now published on Tuesdays and Fridays by Carl B. 
Johnson. 

The Needham Chronicle has a history somewhat different from any other 
newspaper in the county. It was established in 1874 by George W. Southworth, 
who is still the editor and proprietor. When first started it bore the name of 
Needham Chronicle and Wellesley Advertiser. Mr. Southworth was a journalist 
of some experience, which doubtless accounts for the successful career of the 
Chronicle. When the Town of Wellesley was incorporated in 1881, the words 
"and Wellesley Advertiser" were dropped from the heading and a separate edi- 
tion was published under that name for some time. The Chronicle is now 
issued every Saturday. 

James M. Stewart, editor of the Franklin Register, published a paper called 
the Walpole Standard in the early '70s. It lived to start on its eighth volume, 
when it was discontinued. Other Walpole newspapers of the last century were: 
The Enterprise, started by E. H. Hosmer in March, 1878; the Norfolk County 
Tribune, which succeeded the Enterprise in June, 1881 ; the Walpole Star, 
started in June, 1882, by Charles J. McPherson, and the Standard and Enter- 
prise which was published for a short time in the '80s. The Walpole Enterprise 
of the present day is an edition of the Foxboro Reporter. 

The first newspaper in Braintree was called the Reporter and was started by 
Charles G. Easterbrook of the Weymouth Gazette. It lasted not quite two years 
and left but little history. The Old Colony Bulletin began its career in April, 
1875, with the name of C. F. David at the head of the editorial columns. He 
sold the outfit in October following and it was removed to Abington. Mr. David 
later started the Weymouth Advance, which was not a successful venture and 
the paper lived but about two years, as already stated. 

In 1878 Daniel H. Huxford, editor and proprietor of the East Norfolk 
Register, of Randolph, began the publication of the Braintree Observer, which 
is still in existence. It is now published every Saturday as an independent 
newspaper by the George W. Prescott Publishing Company of Quincy. 

On April 29, 1882, Frederick P. Fairfield, a Boston man, issued the first 
number of the Milton News. Some six months later the paper was purchased 
by W. W. Woodward, who conducted it for a few years, when it went to the wall. 

NEWSPAPERS IN I917 

According to Ayer's Newspaper Directory for 1917, there are seven towns 
in Norfolk County that have no newspapers published within their limits, viz : 
Bellingham, Dover, Medfield, Norfolk, Plainville, Westwood and Wrentham. 
Of the newspapers in the other towns, the Braintree Observer, Foxboro Reporter, 
Franklin Sentinel, Needham Chronicle, Quincy Patriot-Ledger, Stoughton Sen- 
tinel, Walpole Enterprise and Weymouth Gazette and Transcript have already 
been described. 

The Braintree Bee, an independent weekly, was established in 1894, and is 
now published every Saturday by the firm of Pratt & Pratt, editors and pro- 
prietors. 

Vol. 1—26 



402 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

The Brookline Chronicle made its appearance on May 9, 1874, with the name 
of W. H. Hutcheson as editor and proprietor. In July, 1875, it was purchased 
by Wing & Arthur. In January, 1877, Charles M. Vincent became the owner, 
but sold it about a year later to Alexander S. Arthur, who in July, 1879, took 
Charles A. W. Spencer into partnership. The Chronicle is now published every 
Saturday as an independent newspaper by the Chronicle Publishing Company, 
with Arthur W. Spencer as editor. 

In 1903 the Brookline Townsman made its bow to the public as an inde- 
pendent weekly. It is now published by the Brookline Press (incorporated) and 
the editor is V. G. Byers. 

N. T. Merritt, a journalist of considerable experience in that line, established 
the Canton Journal in December, 1876. About four months later he sold out to 
D. S. Hasty of Easton. E. B. Thorndike became the proprietor in 1880, and in 
May, 1882, the office and printing establishment were removed to the "old school 
house," where commodious quarters were obtained and the paper was greatly 
improved. The Journal is now published by the Canton Publishing Company 
(incorporated), with Herbert Mosman as editor. An edition called the Easton 
Bulletin is issued every week for North Easton. 

Cohasset has three newspapers, though none is published in the town. The 
Cohasset Citizen is an edition of the "East Wind," published at Hull; the 
Cottager is an edition published by the Abington Advertiser ; and the Sentinel is 
published by the South Shore Publishing Company of Boston, which publishes 
a number of newspapers for the small towns along the coast. 

The Dedham Transcript was established in 1870. Some years later the busi- 
ness was incorporated under the name of the Transcript Press, which now 
publishes the Transcript as an independent newspaper every Saturday. An 
edition for local distribution is also issued by the Transcript Press under the 
name of the Standard. 

An independent newspaper called the Holbrook Times began its career in 
1889. It is now published every Saturday, following the original policy of inde- 
pendence, by John King, who is both editor and proprietor. 

The only newspaper in Millis is an edition of the Milford Gazette, which is 
issued as an independent sheet every Friday, devoted largely to the local news 
of the town. 

Charles F. Marden is the present editor and proprietor of the Milton Record, 
which was established in 1904. It is published every Saturday as an independent 
weekly. In Needham, besides the Chronicle already mentioned, there is a weekly 
independent newspaper called the Recorder. It was founded in 1895 and is now 
published every Friday by Ellis S. Tisdale and Robert Coupe, editors and 
proprietors. 

Norwood has a live weekly newspaper called the Messenger. It was estab- 
lished in 1895 and is now published by Ambrose Brothers, A. N. Ambrose being 
the editor. The Messenger is issued every Saturday and is devoted chiefly to 
local news and matters pertaining to Norwood and vicinity. 

In 1909 a second daily paper made its appearance in Quincy. It is called the 
Quincy Daily Telegram and is published every afternoon except Sunday. J. D. 
Smith is the present editor and the paper is published by W. G. Spargo. 

There fs also in Quincy a monthly publication called the Granite Cutters' 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 403 

Journal. It was founded in 1877 by the Granite Cutters' International Associa- 
tion and is published by that organization in the interests of the workmen in the 
granite industry. The present editor is James Duncan. 

In 1914 the Randolph News Publishing Company began the publication of 
an independent weekly newspaper called the Randolph News. It is issued every 
Friday and has a good local patronage. 

Sharon has two weekly newspapers — the Advocate and the News. The 
former was started in 1881 by William B. Wickes, who continued to publish the 
paper for several years. It is now issued every Saturday as an independent 
newspaper by the Sharon Publishing Company. The News was founded in 
1914 and is also published on Saturday as an independent weekly by the News 
Publishing Company, with Mary A. Mahoney as editor. 

The South Weymouth Times was founded in 191 1 and is now published 
every Friday by Sydney Rogers Cook. It is devoted chiefly to local news and 
interests. The South Weymouth Sun is an edition of the Abington Advertiser. 

M. W. Hawley is the publisher and William H. Davis the editor of the 
Stoughton News, which began its career in 191 1. It is now published every 
Friday as an independent weekly. 

The Wellesley Townsman was established in 1906 and is now issued every 
Friday by the Wellesley Publishing Company. It is purely local in character 
and devoted to Wellesley interests. The Wellesley Review is an edition of the 
Natick Bulletin and is issued weekly. In 1901 the students of Wellesley College 
began the publication of a paper called the Wellesley College News. It is issued 
every Thursday during the college year and is edited by the students. 

West Medway has a weekly edition of the Milford Gazette that is devoted to 
Medway interests, but no paper is published in the town proper. The South 
Shore Newspaper Company of Boston issues a weekly called the Weymouth 
Enterprise, for circulation in that town. 



CHAPTER XLVII 
LIBRARIES AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES 

LAWS RELATING TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES — A FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY IN EVERY TOWN IN 
NORFOLK COUNTY — BRIEF HISTORY OF EACH — HISTORICAL SOCIETIES AND THEIH 

OBJECT DEDIIAM CANTON WEYMOUTH MEDFIELD HOLBROOK — 

FOXBORO — WALPOLE — MEDWAY — MILTON — QUINCY. 

For more than a century the State of Massachusetts, by liberal and appro- 
priate legislation, has sought to encourage the establishment of free public 
libraries. The act of March 3, 1798, provided "That any seven or more persons 
capable of contracting, in any towns or districts in this Commonwealth, who 
have or shall become Proprietors in common of any Library, may form them- 
selves into a Society or Body Politic for the express purposes of holding, in- 
creasing, preserving and using such Library," etc. 

Since that time a number of laws relating to public libraries have been 
enacted. By the act of May 28, 1890, the governor was authorized to appoint a 
board of library commissioners, to consist of five residents of the Common- 
wealth, whose duty it should be to advise the librarian or trustees of any public 
library in regard to the selection of books, and any other matters pertaining to 
the maintenance or management of the library. The board was also "authorized 
and directed to expend, upon the application of the board of trustees of any 
town having no free public library owned and controlled by the town, a sum not 
exceeding one hundred dollars for books for any such town entitled to the bene- 
fits of this act; such books to be used by the trustees for the purpose of estab- 
lishing a free public library, and said comnrissioners shall select and purchase 
all books to be provided as aforesaid." 

Under the provisions of this act free public libraries have multiplied in the 
State of Massachusetts until nearly every town in the state has an institution of 
this nature. Every town in Norfolk County has a public library, a majority of 
them having been established before the passage of the act of 1890. On May 6, 
1892, an act was approved giving one hundred dollars' worth of books to any 
town whose valuation does not exceed $600,000, which maintained a free public 
library prior to the passage of the act of 1890, "and which has fully complied or 
hereafter fully complies with the provisions of said act." A few of the towns 
in Norfolk County have received state aid under the provisions of this act. In 
this chapter are given brief histories of the free public libraries in the several 
towns of the county. For the convenience of the reader these histories have 
been arranged in the alphabetical order of the towns. 

404 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 405 

AVON 

At the town meeting held in March, 1892, the citizens of Avon voted to 
accept the provisions of the act of 1890, and the following June the town received 
$100 worth of books from the state for the purpose of founding a free public 
library. Subsequently Lucius Clapp, of Randolph, gave the library $500 for the 
purchase of books that "shall be instructive and of good moral tone," on the 
condition that the library establish a reading room open to the public on certain 
evenings each week. The library is kept in the town hall. In 19 16 it numbered 
3,710 volumes and had an income of $465.77. During the year 13,899 books 
were taken from the library by the people of the town for home reading. 

BELLI NGH AM 

In 1894 this town accepted the provisions of the act of 1890 and received 
$100 worth of books from the state as a nucleus of a free public library. That 
year the town appropriated twenty-five dollars for the library, but the next year, 
and for several years thereafter, the appropriation was seventy-five dollars. 
Nearly one hundred volumes were donated by the Bellingham United Library 
Association. The report of the state library commission for 1916 gives the 
number of volumes as 3.075 and the income as $350.41. The trustees for 1916 
were : Laurence Mason, A. Evelyn Sackett, Susie C. Fairbanks, Alice A. Burr, 
Olive C. Cook and Bertha Franklin, the last named being the librarian. 

BRAINTREE 

At a special town meeting held in Braintree on May 16, 1870, the following 
communication was received from Gen. Sylvanus Thayer: 

"To the Citizens of the Town of Braintree : 

"Gentlemen — To establish a free public library in the town, I propose to 
erect a fire-proof building, suitable for the purpose, towards the cost of which 
the town shall contribute the sum of ten thousand dollars, the amount needed to 
complete the building to be paid by me. And I will loan to the town the said 
sum of ten thousand dollars, for such time as it shall require it, to comply with 
this offer, at six per cent interest. Upon the acceptance of this proposition by 
the town, I will give the further sum of ten thousand dollars, as a permanent 
fund, the income of which shall annually be devoted to the maintenance of said 
library. Should the town take favorable action upon this matter, I shall be 
happy to confer with a committee with reference to the immediate consumma- 
tion of the project. 

"Respectfully, 

"S. Thayer/' 

The acceptance of the offer was by an almost unanimous vote, and Asa 
French, Edward Avery, Francis A. Hobart, Charles H. Dow and Alva Morrison 
were appointed the committee to confer with General Thayer, and were given 
full power to act in the premises. General Thayer did not live to see the library 
building completed, but the executors of his will carried out his generous offer 



406 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

by setting apart the sum of twenty thousand dollars for the erection of the 
building and the support of the library. The cost of the building was $32,500. 
It was opened to the public on September I, 1874. According to the library 
commission's report for 1916, the library had 16,822 volumes on the shelves and 
an income of $3,088.76, of which $1,550 was appropriated by the town and the 
remainder came from the endowment fund of General Thayer. 

BROOKLINE 

As early as 1825 a library association was organized in Brookline, with Rev. 
John Pierce as president. Membership fees were fixed at five dollars a year for 
the first two years and two dollars a year after that time. The library was kept 
in the house of the librarian and was open on the first and third Saturdays of 
each month, from three to four o'clock in the afternoon for the exchange of 
books. In 1827 a catalogue was issued showing nearly three hundred volumes. 
After a few years of comparative success, the library gradually declined and 
finally ceased to exist. 

The question of establishing a free public library came before the town 
meeting on March 16, 1857, and a committee was appointed to report at an 
adjourned meeting on the 30th of the same month. The committee was com- 
posed of Edward A. Dana, Samuel Philbrick, George F. Homer, Charles Follen 
and Abijah W. Goddard. At the adjourned meeting this committee reported in 
favor of the project and upon its recommendation the town voted for the support 
of the library the highest sum that could be raised by taxation. The income the 
first year was $934. A room was provided in the town hall and the library was 
opened for the delivery of books on December 2, 1857. Three additional rooms 
in the town building were occupied as the library grew and it became necessary 
to procure larger and more suitable quarters. In 1867 the town voted to pur- 
chase a tract of ground on Washington street and plans for a library building 
were soon afterward approved. This building was completed at a cost of about 
forty-five thousand dollars and was opened to the public on October 13, 1869. 
In 1888 a wing was added at a cost of $16,500 and the reading room was added 
in 1892 at a cost of $15,840. Besides the liberal appropriations made from time 
to time by the town, the library has been aided by the donations and bequests of 
public spirited citizens, amounting in the aggregate to nearly twenty thousand 
dollars. The reading room is called "Gardner Hall," in honor of John L. Gard- 
ner, who gave the library $10,000 in January, 1871. At the close of the year 
1916 the Brookline library numbered 89,663 volumes and the income for the 
year was $34,862.40. During the year 230,913 volumes were circulated for 
home use. 

CANTON 

Through the efforts of the Grand Army of the Republic, a free public library 
was established in Canton in 1874. A small agricultural library in the town was 
absorbed by the new institution. George E. Downes left a bequest of $5,000, 
that portion of the income not used in caring for his burial lot in the cemetery to 
be given to the public library. In 1898 Miss Caroline Tucker Downes left by 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 407 

will a fund of $2,000, the income of which is devoted to the purchase of books. 
For many years the library was kept in rooms upon the first floor of the memorial 
hall, but in 1901 Augustus Hemenway erected and furnished a neat and sub- 
stantial building, which, together with the site, he donated to the town for 
library purposes. At the close of the year 1916 the Canton library contained 
18,619 volumes and the income for the year was $5,024.86. Lucy D. Downes 
was at that time the librarian. 

COHASSET 

The Cohasset Free Public Library dates its beginning from March, 1878, 
when Rev. Joseph Osgood, in his report as superintendent of schools, urged the 
establishment of such an institution, and induced the town to vote an appropria- 
tion of $300 for that purpose, payable when a like sum had been raised by private 
subscription. The teachers of the town went to work and in a short time the 
needed sum of $300 was obtained. The library was then organized and was 
further aided by the citizens by the donation of books and money. Dr. David W. 
Cheever, of Boston, a summer resident of Cohasset, gave a fund of $300, called 
the "Marion Cheever Fund," as a memorial to his deceased daughter, to be in- 
vested in books of a scientific character at the rate of thirty dollars annually. 
For about twenty years the library was kept in rooms upon the first floor of the 
town hall, when it was consolidated with the Paul Pratt Memorial Library, the 
history of which is as follows : 

Paul Pratt was born in Cohasset on May 17, 1788, and died there on August 
31, 1853. He left considerable property to his two daughters — Harriot E. and 
Sarah S. The latter was one of the trustees of the Cohasset Public Library 
from the time of its organization until her death in 1896. Harriot E. Pratt died 
on April 19, 1898, and in her will provided that one-half of her estate, except 
certain real estate, should be paid to the chairman of the board of selectmen of 
the Town of Cohasset, the pastor of the First Parish Church, the pastor of the 
Second Congregational Church, Randolph Knapp and James Longley, and two 
others to be selected by these five, the fund to be used for the establishment of a 
free public library to be known as the "Paul Pratt Memorial Library." The first 
meeting of the trustees was held on February 3, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel T. 
Snow gave a site on Main street and the building was finished in December, 
1902. Then the trustees of the Paul Pratt Memorial and the Cohasset Public 
libraries came to an agreement to work together and the old library was moved 
out of the town hall into the new building. 

In August, 1916, the trustees leased quarters in the building of the Beech- 
wood Improvement Association and established a branch of the library at Beech- 
wood. The library has the income from $14,500 invested in interest bearing 
securities, and the town appropriation in 1916 was $2,150. At the close of that 
year the librarian, Miss Sarah B. Collier, reported 15,575 volumes. 

DEDHAM 

A social library was organized in Dedham on November 24, 1854, under the 
general laws of the state in force at that time. Carlos Slafter and Dr. Joseph P. 



408 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Paine raised about thirteen hundred dollars by subscription; by payment of five 
dollars any one could become a shareholder and each member of the association 
paid a varying sum annually toward the library's support. A circulating library 
belonging to Elbridge G. Robinson, editor of the Norfolk Democrat, was pur- 
chased for $200, and the institution was opened on February 1, 1855, in a house 
next to the insurance building and Dr. Samuel Adams, a dentist who lived in the 
house, was the first librarian. After a time persons who were not members 
were admitted upon the payment of a certain sum annually. Interest in the 
library increased and about 1870 a movement was started for the establishment 
of a public library which should be free to all the inhabitants. Lack of funds 
was the principal obstacle to the project. The women of the town held a suc- 
cessful "fair," from which was realized the sum of $4,000 to be used for the 
support of the new library. 

On March 24, 1871, the Dedham Public Library and Reading Room was in- 
corporated by an act of the Legislature. In the act Waldo Coburn, Thomas L. 
Wakefield, Edward Stimson, Edmund Quincy, William Chickering, Erastus 
W r orthington, Alfred Hewins, Henry O. Hildreth "and their associates and 
successors," were given power to hold in trust real and personal property not 
exceeding one hundred thousand dollars in value, exclusive of books, papers and 
works of art. It was also provided in the act that "so long as said corporation 
shall allow the inhabitants of Dedham free access to its library and reading 
room, under reasonable regulations, said town may annually appropriate and pay 
said corporation a sum not exceeding one dollar on each of its ratable polls." 

On November 17, 1871, the old Dedham Library Association voted unani- 
mously to transfer the books and other property of that organization to the new 
corporation and the 2,977 volumes of the old social library became the nucleus 
of the new public library, which was opened on February 24, 1872, in a room 
on the corner of High and Court streets. Charles Bullard in his will gave $3,000 
to the library, the income to be used in the purchase of books. Henry O. 
Hildreth, Ebenezer Wright, George E. Hatton, William Ames, John Bullard, 
Dr. Henry P. Quincy and several other citizens gave books, amounting in the 
aggregate to nearly two thousand volumes. 

Miss Hannah Shuttleworth died on February 22, 1886, and left a legacy of 
$10,000 for the erection of a library building. To this were added the following 
gifts: Albert W. Nickerson, $5,000; George A. Nickerson, $1,000; Joseph W. 
Clark, $1,000; Stephen M. Weld, $500; Henry P. Quincy, $200; A. W. Lamson, 
$100; John R. Bullard, $469.49, and the legacy of $10,000 left by John Bullard, 
making a total of $28,269.49. Later the trustees voted to add $4,000 from the 
general fund. The lot on the corner of Church and Norfolk streets was pur- 
chased in April, 1886, and the building was opened to the public on November 
22, 1888. The total cost of building and grounds was $35,385.75. 

By an act of the Legislature, approved on April 1, 1889, the trustees trans- 
ferred the entire library to the town, on condition that "the town will forever 
maintain the same as a free public library." The condition was accepted by the 
town and since that time Dedham has been the owner of the institution. The 
number of volumes at the close of the year 1916 was nearly twenty-six thousand, 
and the circulation during the year was over seventy-one thousand volumes. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 409* 



DOVER 



In March, 1894, the Dover town meeting voted $200 for the purchase of 
books for the purpose of founding a free public library, and a similar sum was 
raised by subscription. Later in the year the state library commission added $100 
worth of books under the act of 1890 and at a special town meeting the sum of 
$350 was appropriated to furnish a suitable room' in the town hall. The library 
was opened to the public on December 22, 1894, with 498 volumes on the shelves. 
According to the report of the state library commission for 1916, the Dover 
Library then numbered 5,718 volumes and reported an income of $805. 



FOXBORO 

On March 20, 1871, the citizens of Foxboro voted to establish a free public 
library, to be known as the "Boyden Public Library," in honor of Uriah A. 
Boyden, a native of the town, who gave $1,000 toward the enterprise. Mr. 
Boyden also provided for an annuity of $100 for the support of the library, which 
also receives annually the income of $500 known as the "Carpenter Fund." The 
building occupied by the library was erected in 1868 as a memorial hall at a cost 
of $13,000. In 1897 two wings were added, each with accommodations for 
1,500 volumes. The cost of these improvements was about two thousand dollars. 
At the close of the year 1916 the library numbered about forty-five hundred 
volumes and during the year circulated nearly twelve thousand. The town 
appropriation for the year was $900. 

FRANKLIN 

To the Town of Franklin belongs the honor of having the oldest library in 
Norfolk County. In March, 1785, the Congregational Church there was erect- 
ing a new house of worship and wrote to Benjamin Franklin, after whom the 
town was named and who was then United States minister to France, asking 
him to donate a bell for the church. The letter was written by Jonathan Wil- 
liams, a nephew of Dr. Franklin. Under date of March 18, 1785, Doctor 
Franklin wrote as follows to his friend, Rev. Richard Price of London : 

"Passy, France, 18 March, 1785. 
"Dear Friend : — My nephew, Mr. Williams, will have the honor of delivering 
you this line. It is to request from you a list of books, to the value of about 
twenty-five pounds, such as are most proper to inculcate principles of sound 
religion and just government. A new town in the State of Massachusetts hav- 
ing done me the honor of naming itself after me, and proposing to build a 
steeple to their meeting house if I would give then a bell, I have advised the 
sparing themselves the expense of a steeple for the present, and that they would 
accept of books instead of a bell, sense being preferable to sound. These are, 
therefore, intended as the commencement of a little parochial library, for the 
use of a society of intelligent, respectable farmers, such as our country people 
generally consist of. Besides your own works, I would only mention, on the 
recommendation of my sister, Stennett's 'Discourses on Personal Religion,'' 
which may be one book of the number if you know and approve it. 



410 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

"With the highest esteem and respect, I am ever, my dear friend, yours most 
affectionately, 

"B. Franklin/' 

The collection of books selected by Mr. Price and paid for by Doctor Frank- 
lin number 116 volumes, not one of which was fiction and scarcely any of less 
solidity than "Blackstone's Commentaries," so the people of Franklin certainly 
got "sense instead of sound." The receipt of the books was a memorable event 
in the town. Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, pastor of the church that had asked for 
a bell, preached a sermon entitled "The Dignity of Man," which was afterward 
printed and dedicated "To His Excellency, Benjamin Franklin, President of the 
State of Pennsylvania, the ornament of genius, the patron of science and the 
best of men." 

Several years after the Franklin collection was received, a social library was 
founded in connection with it. In the course of time the books supplied through 
the generosity of Doctor Franklin became obsolete and were rarely read. For a 
long time both the Franklin and the social libraries remained practically uncared 
for and became almost unknown. About 1869 two of the citizens of the town 
offered to give $100 each toward the establishment of a new library. Natives of 
the town who had become non-residents, were appealed to for subscriptions to the 
fund and several of them responded, about four hundred dollars being thus 
received. The Franklin Library Association (a stock company) was then organ- 
ized and the books remaining of the Franklin collection were turned over to the 
new association for preservation. 

Not long after this the entire library was given to and accepted by the town, 
since which time it has been supported by the town appropriation and an income 
of $350 annually from a fund. The library building is the gift of Mrs. A. W. 
Peirce and Mrs. A. D. Thayer, daughters of the late Joseph G. Ray. In 1916 
the library numbered 9,723 volumes and reported to the state library commission 
an income of $1,757. It is now known as the Ray Memorial Library. 

HOLBROOK 

On December 9, 1871, more than two months before the Town of Llolbrook 
was created by act of the Legislature, Elisha N. Holbrook made a proposition at 
a meeting of citizens that, in the event the Town of Randolph was divided and a 
new town established, he would give to the said new town $50,000, one-half of 
which was to be used in the erection of a town hall and library building, $10,000 
for a public library, and the remainder for the liquidation of the town debt. The 
Town of Holbrook was incorporated on February 29, 1872, Mr. Holbrook hav- 
ing died on the 5th of that month, though he made provision in his will for carry- 
ing out his proposal of the preceding December. 

In 1873 a town hall was built on Franklin street, at a cost of $35,000, and the 
following year the public library was established in rooms upon the first floor of 
the building. Early on the morning of December 25, 1877, fire broke out in the 
town hall and the library, which was in the rear part of the building, was de- 
stroyed. Insurance to the amount of $3,500 was received, an entire new collec- 
tion of books bought, and when the new town hall, on the site of the former one, 
was opened in 1879 the library was again ready for the public patronage. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 411 

On February 28, 1898, the town hall and library were again seriously dam- 
aged by fire and an insurance of $5,000 was recovered. At that time the library 
numbered about eight thousand volumes. Again the work of rebuilding was 
undertaken and on June 11, 1898, the library was once more opened to the public. 
At the beginning of the year 1917 the Ffolbrook library numbered about nine 
thousand volumes. The town appropriation for 1916 was $324.85 and the income 
from other sources was $1,182.83. 

MEDFIELD 

As early as 1786 a social library was established in Medfield, the shares being 
four dollars each. It accumulated about seven hundred volumes, but after some 
years it was disbanded and the books distributed among the members. Another 
stockholders' library was started in 1828, and it acquired about one thousand 
volumes, when, like its predecessor, it passed out of existence. 

The present free public library dates back to 1873. Early in that year George 
Cummings offered to give $800 for the purpose of starting a library whenever the 
citizens of the town would obligate themselves to give a like sum. On March 29, 
1873, it was announced that the desired sum had been subscribed and the library 
was opened in the town hall. Most of the books were destroyed in the fire of 
January 8, 1874, but the loss was made good by the gifts of public spirited citi- 
zens, and before the close of the year the library was reopened in the new town 
hall building. In 1892 the town granted the use of an additional room for a read- 
ing room. At his death George Cummings bequeathed $1,000 to the library and 
since then George M. Smith left it a legacy of $500, the income of both gifts 
being expended for its support. 

In 191 6 the town accepted the gift of a new building from Granville F. 
Dailey of New York, to be erected on the corner of Main and Pleasant streets, 
and a trust fund of $500 was received from John M. Richardson. At the begin- 
ning of the year 191 7 the library numbered nearly seven thousand volumes. In 
the preceding year the town appropriation and dog tax amounted to $206.53 and 
the income from other sources was $428.21. 

MED WAY 

The Medway Public Library had its origin in the Dean Library Association, 
which was incorporated on March 3, i860, the incorporators being Luther Met- 
calf, William H. Cary, John Cole, Dr. A. B. L. Monroe and Clark Partridge. It 
took its name from Dr. Oliver Dean of Franklin, who offered to give $400, on 
condition that a like sum was raised by popular subscription. Life memberships 
cost ten dollars and the annual fees of those who did not hold life memberships 
were $1.50. Upon the death of Doctor Dean the association received a number 
of shares of Boston & Albany Railroad stock, which afterward reached a value 
of about five thousand dollars, the income of which was to be used for the pur- 
chase of books. 

From the time of its organization until 1872 the library was kept in Fisher's 
Hall, but upon the completion of Sanford's Hall in Medway Village the library 
was removed there, as being a more central location. In 1892 the town voted to 



412 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

conform to the requirements of the library law of 1890, and received $100 worth 
of books from the state as the basis of a free public library, which was opened to 
the public on the 18th of June of that year. The town then made an appropria- 
tion of $125 and the dog tax — aggregating $424 — one-fourth of which went to. the 
Dean Public Library and the balance to the town library, which was for several 
years kept in the same room as the postoffice. William T. Adams, who wrote a 
large number of juvenile stories under the pseudonym of "Oliver Optic," and 
who was a native of Medway, presented the library with a complete set of his 
works. Recently a building has been erected and presented to the town by the 
heirs of the late Addison and Lydia Thayer, and the two libraries have been 
united in the new building under one management. In 1916 the town reported 
4,753 volumes and an income of $435.87. 

MILLIS 

The public library of Millis was organized in 1878 as the "East Medway Cir- 
culating Library." When the Town of Millis was set off from Medway and 
incorporated by the act of February 24, 1885, the members of the East Medway 
Circulating Library Association decided to tender to the selectmen of the new 
town all books in their possession (about 325) as the foundation of a free public 
library. This was done at a meeting of the association held on March 19, 1885, 
and the offer was accepted by a town meeting four days later. The association 
also turned over its cash on hand (some $30) for the purchase of new books. 
The library building was erected by the heirs of Lansing Millis and presented to 
the town. In 1916 the library numbered 4,480 volumes and reported an income 
of $214.76. 

MILTON 

At a town meeting held on March 7, 1870, it was "voted that the town appro- 
priate the sum of $3,000 for a public library, to be paid to the trustees thereof, 
when a like sum has been raised by subscription or donation and secured to the 
satisfaction of the selectmen, and that nine trustees be chosen by the town to 
expend said amount and have charge of said library." 

The citizens of the town manifested their interest in the proposition by 
promptly contributing the necessary $3,000, upon which the trustees rented a 
room at Milton Lower Mills and on February 23, 1871, the library was opened 
to the public, with 3,500 volumes upon the shelves, selected with great care by a 
committee. Ten years later a building was erected at the Lower Mills especially 
for the accommodation of the library, and a few years later a branch was estab- 
lished at East Milton. From the beginning the town has been liberal in support 
of the library, and the institution also has the income from the following funds : 
Vose, $4,900; Wolcott, $1,000; Kidder, $1,000; Churchill, $500. 

Probably no public library in Norfolk County has been of more assistance to 
the public schools than the one in Milton. On January 2, 1895, the trustees voted 
to allow the teachers to take from the library "books that have been in the library 
for one year, in the proportion of one book to every two pupils in the high and 
grammar schools, and of one book to every three pupils in the primary schools, 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 413 

under such rules and restrictions as the executive committee may prescribe, the 
expense of transportation to be borne by the school committee." At the close of 
the schools in 1916, vacation reading lists were printed and distributed among 
the pupils in the primary and grammar grades, those reading the greatest number 
of books to constitute a "roll of honor" and have their names posted on the 
library bulletin board. The library now has three branches and eight school 
deposits, an arrangement by which every citizen of the town is brought in touch 
with the library. 

At the close of the year 1916 nearly thirty thousand titles were catalogued 
in the Milton Public Library. The town appropriation, including the dog tax, 
for the year was $10,065.76, and the income from other sources amounted to 
$1,618.88. 

NEEDHAM 

On March 5, 1888, a town meeting in Needham voted to establish a public 
library, to be free to all the citizens of the town and "to be supported wholly by 
taxation, the town devoting to it the dog tax and a reasonable annual appropria- 
tion." The income for the first year was about eight hundred dollars. A room 
was set apart in the building leased for town purposes. Prior to the above 
action by the town meeting there were library associations at Needham and High- 
landville, both of which turned their books over to the town as part of the free 
public library. In return for this courtesy on the part of the Highlandville 
Library Association, a branch of the public library was established in that village. 
Another branch was subsequently established at Needham Heights, where a 
building was donated by Andrew Carnegie. This building was purchased in 
19 1 5 by William Carter for $9,000 in cash and a site for a new building. The 
town appropriated $10,000 and Air. Carnegie donated the balance of the cost, 
which was $32,500. A delivery and deposit station has been established at the 
Needhamdale School, but the former branches have been discontinued. The 
new building was dedicated on May 4, 1916. It is one of the most modern 
designs in the county and has a capacity of 20,000 volumes. At the time it was 
opened to the public the library consisted of 16,500 volumes. The town appro- 
priation for 1916 was $28,973.97, and the income from other sources was $19,392. 
This, of course, included the building fund. 

NORFOLK 

In 1880 the Norfolk Library Association, which had been organized some 
years previously, offered its collection of books, numbering about two hundred 
volumes, to the town. The offer was accepted and the Norfolk Farmers' Club 
loaned a number of volumes from the club library. An appropriation of about 
seventy-five dollars was made by the town and the library was opened in a room 
in the town house. There it remained until the completion of the new high 
school building in October, 1897, in which more convenient quarters were fitted 
up for the library, where it is still kept. In 1816 there were 2,334 volumes on 
the shelves and the town appropriation for that year was $175. 



414 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

NORWOOD 

On January 6, 1790, while Norwood was still a part of Dedham, twenty- 
two persons met and organized a social library association. Ten years later it 
was voted to sell the books at auction and distribute the proceeds among the 
members. On January 22, 1800, a few days after the auction, another library 
association was formed and used the same book of records, which is still in the 
possession of the Norwood Library. It continued as the "South Dedham Parish 
Library" until the Town of Norwood was incorporated in 1872, when the mem- 
bers offered to give "their rights and interests" in said library to the town. At 
the annual town meeting on March 3, 1873, the offer was accepted and a com- 
mittee appointed to confer with the shareholders. Another town meeting was 
held on the 7th of April, at which the committee reported that the shareholders 
of the South Parish Library had signed an agreement relinquishing their inter- 
ests in the library, "on condition that the Town of Norwood would establish and 
maintain a free public library for the benefit of the citizens of said town," and 
recommended that the offer be accepted. The report and recommendation were 
adopted and a board of trustees appointed to take charge of the library. 

On February 1, 1898, George H. Morrill and his wife, Louisa J. Morrill, 
presented to the town a lot and building "to be used for literary and educational 
purposes only, and to be known as the Morrill Memorial Library." This mag- 
nificent gift, which cost over seventy-five thousand dollars, was donated to the 
town by Mr. and Mrs. Morrill as a memorial to their daughter, Sarah Bond 
Morrill, who died on March 7, 1895. The gift was accepted on February 1, 
1898, with appropriate public exercises. In 1916 the library contained nearly 
eighteen thousand volumes. The town appropriation and dog tax for that year 
amounted to $4,437.06 and other sources yielded an income of $238.31. 

PLAINVILLE 

When the Town of Plainville was incorporated by the act of April 4, 1905, 
the people lost the privileges they previously enjoyed of taking books from the 
Wrentham Public Library. At the annual town meeting in 1906 it was voted to 
accept the provisions of the library acts of 1890 and 1892, and room was set 
apart in the new school building for a public library. A little later the town 
received $100 worth of books from the state and the pupils of the high school 
raised over forty dollars for the benefit of the library. The Plainville Library 
Association, which had been organized some years before, donated its collection 
of books (112 volumes) and the library was opened early in the year 1908 with 
about five hundred volumes. During the next two years some five hundred 
volumes were added by donation and purchase. In 1916 a deposit station was 
established at Shepardville. The library then numbered 3,750 volumes and 
reported an income of $407.50, most of which was the town appropriation and 
dog tax. 

quincy 

At the annual town meeting in 1871 it was "voted that the funds arising from 
the tax on dogs be appropriated to establish a free public town library," and a 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 415 

committee was appointed to report a plan. The committee reported at a special 
meeting held on May 2, 187 1, when a board of trustees was elected and the 
town appropriated $2,500 for the purpose of fitting up a suitable room and the 
purchase of books. The library was opened to the public on December 11, 1871, 
with 4,600 volumes on the shelves, about half of which had been donated by the 
citizens, Charles Francis Adams presenting 1,650 volumes of congressional rec- 
ords and other public documents. 

In February, 1880, the heirs and descendants of Thomas Crane offered to 
erect a library building to his memory, to cost not less than twenty thousand 
dollars, if the town would provide a suitable site. Thomas Crane was a Quincy 
stone cutter, who acquired a fortune by dealing in granite in New York. The 
town voted to accept the offer and to call the building "Crane Memorial Hall" ; 
also that after the town library should be deposited therein it should be known 
as the "Thomas Crane Library." The sum of $10,000 was appropriated for the 
purchase of a site and the "Thomas Crane Public Library of Quincy" was in- 
corporated by an act of the Legislature in 1880. On May 30, 1882, the new 
building was dedicated. Its cost was over fifty thousand dollars and it has a 
capacity of 40,000 volumes. In 1895 a bequest of $20,000 was made by Mrs. 
Clarissa L. Crane, widow of Thomas Crane, the income to be used for keeping 
the library building in repair, improvement of the grounds and purchase of works 
of art for the library. The Quincy library has one of the best collections of 
newspaper files and pamphlets pertaining to local history to be found in Norfolk 
County. In 1916 the catalogue showed nearly thirty-eight thousand titles. The 
income for that year was $14,444.69 from the town and $1,429.94 from other 
sources. 

RANDOLPH 

Randolph's public library is known as the "Turner Free Library." It was 
founded as a memorial to Col. Royal Turner by his heirs, viz: Seth Turner, 
Royal W. Turner, Mary B. Turner, Abby W. Turner and Annie M. Sweetser, 
and was opened to the public on March 22, 1876. The building was erected 
by the donors at a cost of $40,000, exclusive of the ground upon which it stands. 
Colonel Turner's heirs also gave the town a donation of $10,000 in money, one- 
half of which was used in the purchase of books and the remainder placed in 
an endowment fund. Seth Turner died on April 8, 1883, and in his will left 
an additional sum of $10,000, the income of which is to be applied to the support 
of the library. This with the one-half of the original donation gives the institu- 
tion a permanent fund of $15,000. 

The first floor of the building, a handsome stone structure, is used for bank- 
ing and mercantile purposes, the money received from rentals also going toward 
the support of the library. Under these conditions it has never been necessary 
for the town to make large appropriations, further than to comply with the con- 
dition imposed by the donors that "the town shall keep the building repaired 
and insured." The library contains complete files of the local newspapers and 
in 1916 had upon its shelves 25,872 volumes. Several gifts of books were re- 
ceived during the year. The income from the Turner Fund was $2,725.84, and 
the town appropriation was $15°- 



416 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

SHARON 

At the annual town meeting in March, 1879, tne people of Sharon voted an 
appropriation of $400 to establish a free public library and a committee of seven 
was appointed to carry out the instructions of the meeting and act as trustees 
until the next annual meeting. It was also voted that the annual receipts from 
dog licenses should be applied to the maintenance of the library "until otherwise 
ordered." This gave the library an income of $325 the first year. Russel Drake 
bequeathed the institution $500, Eliza Perkins left a legacy of $300, and there 
have been other donations and bequests to the library fund, which in 1916 yielded 
an income of $219.24. The town appropriation for that year was $1,311.28, 
which included the dog tax. 

For the first five years of its existence the library was kept in rented rooms, 
but when the town building was completed in 1884 the library was removed there. 
Recently a new building has been erected by subscriptions from the citizens 
and a donation from Andrew Carnegie and the books, curios, etc., have been 
moved into new and permanent quarters. The library now contains over three 
thousand five hundred volumes and is well patronized by the people of the town. 
During the year 1916 Sharon was aided by a circulating library sent out by the 
Woman's Educational Association. 

STOUGHTON 

Several attempts were made to establish a public library in Stoughton before 
one succeeded. In April, 1873, the town meeting voted to appropriate the dog 
tax of that year toward the support of a free public library. This was a humble 
beginning, but the project was aided by the addition of a small agricultural library, 
previously established, which was turned over to the town. The library was 
opened to the public early in 1874 with 524 volumes on the shelves. Wales 
French, who died on May 31, 1916, was librarian for many years and during his 
life bought practically all of the books. Henry L. Pierce left a legacy of $25,000, 
the income of which is to be used for the purchase of new books. This income 
first became available in 1898. Cassadana L. Phinney left $500 by will for the 
benefit of the institution. 

The library was at first kept in the town house, in which two rooms were set 
apart for book and reading rooms. A few years ago Lucius Clapp of Randolph, 
who had previously given the library 500 volumes, presented the town with a 
new library building. The growth of the Stoughton library has been all that 
could be desired by the town. In 19 16 it reported 17,695 volumes. The town 
appropriation for that year was $1,849, an d the income from other sources 
was $1,000. 

WALPOLE 

At a town meeting held on March 13, 1876, a petition signed by George A. 
Kendall and others was presented asking for the establishment of a free public 
library. An appropriation of $485, including the dog tax of that year, was 
made for the purpose of granting the petition and a board of six trustees was 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 417 

chosen by the meeting. In April an arrangement was made between the trustees 
and the East Walpole Library Association by which the 700 volumes belonging 
to the latter were given to the public library, upon the condition that the books 
should be sent to East Walpole once a week for ten years. The Young People's 
Library of about one hundred and twenty-five volumes and the Agricultural 
Library of seventy-five volumes were also turned over to the public library, 
which was opened in a drug store on July 15, 1876. In April, 1878, it was 
removed to a room in a building owned by Nathaniel Bird, and in September, 
1881, to the town hall. There it remained until it was removed into its present 
quarters in the library building, which was given to the town by Andrew Carne- 
gie. The library now numbers about fifteen thousand volumes. The town 
appropriation and dog tax for 1916 amounted to $3,000 and the income from 
other sources to $250. 

WELLESLEY 

The Wellesley Free Library was established in 1881, mainly through the 
munificence of Hollis H. Hunnewell, who paid all the operating expenses until 
1890. A few hundred volumes were received from the Wellesley Library /Asso- 
ciation and individuals gave a number of books. The building, with a beautiful 
park of ten acres surrounding it, was presented to the town by Mr. Hunnewell 
in 1880. The building, a substantial stone edifice, cost about sixty thousand 
dollars and the donor also provided a fund of $20,000 for the care of the library 
and grounds. In 1916 the library reported 19,271 volumes. The town appropria- 
tion and dog tax for that year amounted to $4,253.07 and the income from the 
Hunnewell Fund to $1,175.04. 

WESTWOOD 

For a number of years prior to 1897 West Dedham had a library supported 
by subscription and carried on by an organization known as the West Dedham 
Library Club. It was kept in Ellis Hall and a fee of two dollars entitled any 
one to use the books. After a time the Town of Dedham appropriated $150 a 
year toward the support of the library, and still later it became a branch of the 
Dedham Public Library. 

Wnen the Town of Westwood was incorporated on April 2, 1897, the new 
town appropriated $150 for the library. On February 2, 1898, a town meeting 
voted to accept the conditions imposed by the act of May 4, 1888, relating to 
public libraries and the library became a public institution. In August, 1898, the 
books were removed to the selectmen's room. Howard Colburn, who was a mem- 
ber of the first board of trustees, later gave the town a small but neat building 
for the use of the library, which in 1916 reported 4,872 volumes. The town 
appropriation, including the dog tax, was $515.39 and the library had an income 
of $50.30 from other sources. 

WEYMOUTH 

There are two public libraries in the Town of Weymouth — the Tufts Library 
and the Fogg Memorial Library. Early in the Nineteenth Century social libraries 



418 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

were formed in some of the villages of the town. They were owned by associa- 
tions and supported by a small annual fee paid by each member. Such an 
arrangement was not conducive to permanence or stability, and after a few 
years of varying success they gradually disappeared. One of these was organ- 
ized in South Weymouth on August 7, 1800. Seventy-one citizens were mem- 
bers, each paying an annual fee of fifty cents. The few books left of the 
collection belonging to this association were found in the attic of a house which 
stood where the Fogg Memorial Library is now located and were added to that 
library. The Mutual Library Association of South Weymouth was organized 
on November 13, 1863, with eighty members. It accumulated about fifteen hun- 
dred volumes, the greater portion of which were destroyed by fire. 

The Tufts Library was founded in 1879, when Quincy Tufts and his sister, 
Susan Tufts, left a fund of some twenty thousand dollars to be applied by the 
town "to instructive lectures, the reading room and the general expenses of a 
free public library." Part of the gift consisted of two buildings on the corner 
of Washington and Commercial streets, the lower floor of one being fitted up 
for a library and reading room, which was opened to the public and used until 
October, 1892. Then a new building was erected upon the site. It is fifty by 
eighty feet, with two full stories and a large attic. The lower floor on the Com- 
mercial Street side was rented and the money received from rental applied to 
the support of the library. In 1916 this library reported 29,755 volumes. Its 
total income for that year was $5,197.71, about one half of which consisted of the 
town appropriation and dog tax and the remainder came from other sources. 

In 1892 John S. Fogg, a wealthy shoe manufacturer, died and left $50,000 
in the hands of trustees to establish a free public library that should bear his 
name, said library to be located in his native village of South Weymouth. In 
1897 plans were accepted by the trustees for a two-story building with high base- 
ment, in the Italian Renaissance style of architecture, to be constructed of Wey- 
mouth granite, fortv-six by seventy-six feet in dimensions. It was dedicated 
with appropriate exercises on September 14, 1898. The cost of the site was 
$6,000 and that of the building was $25,000. The balance of the Fogg Fund is 
invested for the benefit of the library. A memorial bronze tablet, suitably 
inscribed, occupies the place of honor over the fireplace in the reading room. 
A Children's Library Society, composed of little girls under ten years of age, 
meets once a week at this library. In 1916 the number of volumes reported by 
the Fogg Library was 7,411. Out of the total income of $1,628.36, the town 
appropriated $500. 

WRENTHAM 

Previous to 189 1 the Town of Wrentham had three small libraries — the 
Wrentham Book Club, the Mite Society, and the Sheldonville Library Associa- 
tion. In 1891 the town meeting voted to accept the provisions of the library act 
of 1890 and the state gave the customary $100 worth of books toward the 
establishment of a free public library. The collections of the three above named 
libraries were then turned over to the town and became a part of the Wrentham 
Public Library, which was opened to the public on August 17, 1892. 

George S. Fiske, Mrs. Esther Hammond, Misses Elizabeth and Charlotte 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 419 

Fiske, children and grandchildren of the late Josiah J. Fiske, erected a library 
building at a cost of about fifteen thousand dollars and presented it to the town, 
with a fund of $5,000, the income from which is to be used for the maintenance 
of the institution. They also gave $500 to be used for the purchase of books. 
In 1916 the library was recatalogued and reclassified under the direction of the 
Massachusetts Free Public Library Commission. It then contained 6,142 
volumes and reported an income of $818.75, of which the town appropriated 
$550. 

HISTORICAL SOCIETIES 

In several of the towns historical societies have been organized, the object of 
which is to collect books, newspapers, records, old letters, pamphlets, relics, etc., 
as illustrate and perpetuate the history of New England, and particularly that of 
the town in which the society is located. 

The oldest of these societies is the Dedham Historical Society, which was 
incorporated on April 23, 1862. In 1886 the society was authorized by a special 
act of the Legislature to erect a building, Miss Hannah Shuttleworth having 
bequeathed a lot at the junction of Church and High streets and a fund of 
$10,000 for that purpose. The building, which is a fireproof structure, was com- 
pleted in 1887. Here the society has a library of several thousand volumes and 
a collection of relics. Meetings are held monthly from October to May each 
year. The building is open to the public from two to five o'clock each afternoon 
except Sunday. 

On May 29, 1893, the Canton Historical Society was incorporated, though it 
had been in existence since 1871. This society makes a specialty of biography and 
genealogy pertaining to the Town of Canton. A few years after it was incor- 
porated a substantial building was erected as a place to preserve the collections 
belonging to the society. This is one of the most active historical societies in the 
county. 

The Weymouth Historical Society was organized in the spring of 1879, an d 
was incorporated on July 19, 1886. Elias Richards was chosen president at the 
time the society was organized in 1879 and served in that office for several years. 
For some time the meetings were held in the Tufts Library, but are now held 
monthly in the Fogg Library at South Weymouth. The society has a fine collec- 
tion of historical matter and has published several volumes relating to the early 
history of the town, etc. 

The Medfield Historical Society was incorporated on September 14, 1891. Its 
by-laws call for stated monthly meetings, which have been well attended from 
the beginning and a great deal of interest in local history has been awakened 
through the efforts of this organization. 

Brookline organized a society in May, 1895. Each member pays $1.00 
annually and is entitled to a copy of every publication issued by the society. 
Several donations of books, documents, curious relics and sums of money have 
been received by this society. It has published a work on "Brookline in the 
Revolution," and some other pamphlets relating to local church history, etc. 

On September 29, 1897, the Holbrook Historical Society was incorporated. 
Its collections are preserved in the town hall. Among them are many interesting 



420 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

facts relating to the early history of the town and its inhabitants, with a number 
of old-time utensils, etc. 

Two historical societies were incorporated in the year 1898 — Foxboro on the 
last day of March, and Walpole on the 23d of May. The work of these two 
societies is along the same lines as that of the others in the county and regular 
meetings are held except during the hot weather of the summer season. There 
is also a historical society in Medway which owns its building and has a valuable 
collection of relics, documents, etc. 

The Milton Historical Society is the outgrowth of the Historical Committee 
of the Milton Educational Society, which was founded on October 2, 1900. On 
February 7, 1905, the society was incorporated by Nathaniel T. Kidder and 
others, and the first annual meeting was held on June 6, 1905. The society then 
numbered 152 members. At that meeting the first paper was read before the 
society by Miss Mary P. Webster, the first president of the Milton Woman's 
Club. It was a sketch of Gov. Jonathan Belcher. In 1916 the society had upon 
its membership roll 306 names. 

The Quincy Historical Society was incorporated on November 15, 1893. I ts 
membership is composed of "men and women of Quincy and the villages included 
in the old Town of Braintree." It has collected a great deal of valuable informa- 
tion regarding the early families of the town. 



CHAPTER XL VIII 
CHURCH HISTORY 

CHURCHES ORIGINALLY SUPPORTED BY TAXATION — CONSTITUTION OF l820 — DIFFI- 
CULTY OF WRITING CHURCH HISTORY — ARRANGEMENT BY DENOMINATIONS — 

THE BAPTISTS THE CATHOLICS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH BRIEF SKETCHES 

OF THE VARIOUS SOCIETIES. 

For many years after the first settlements were made in Massachusetts, 
meeting houses were built and public worship was maintained (except in rare 
cases) by taxes, or rates, levied upon the inhabitants. In the incorporation of 
new towns, one of the requirements was that the citizens of the proposed town 
erect a meeting house and "settle a learned, orthodox minister" within a given 
time. Grants of land were sometimes made to the minister instead of levying 
rates for his support. Early town records are filled with references to such land 
grants, the building or repair of meeting houses, or the "ministers' rates." Con- 
troversies occasionally arose that led to the organization of new parishes, and 
ultimately to the incorporation of new towns. Instances of this kind are men- 
tioned in the chapters relating to the several towns of Norfolk County. Under 
the provisions of the revised constitution of Massachusetts, which went into 
effect in 1820, a complete separation of church and state took place. Since that 
time the religious societies have been maintained by voluntary contributions or 
bequests, no taxes for their support being countenanced by law. 

To write an accurate and comprehensive history of the church organizations 
of any county in the United States — one that would prove satisfactory to all 
parties — is probably the hardest task that could be assigned to the historian. 
Volumes have been written upon the subject of church history in New England, 
covering a period of almost three centuries. It will therefore be readily under- 
stood that, in a county history such as this, the topic must be treated somewhat 
superficially. To undertake the examination of town records ; an exhaustive 
account of the actions of the town meetings from time to time; to give a detailed 
statement of each of the numerous controversies, or extended biographical men- 
tion of pastors is impracticable, hence in these chapters devoted to church history 
only an outline of church development has been attempted. Letters of inquiry 
sent to pastors and others in the beginning of the preparation of this history 
failed to bring replies in many instances, but from such sources as were avail- 
able the leading facts concerning the churches of the county have been collected. 
For the convenience of the reader, the denominations have been arranged in 
alphabetical order. 

421 



422 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

THE BAPTISTS 

The oldest Baptist Church in Norfolk County, of which any record can be 
found, was organized in Medfield in 1752. Some of the members of the regular 
parish church became dissatisfied with the settlement of Mr. Townsend as pastor 
and united with the Baptist Church in Boston. For several years after the organ- 
ization of the society in 1752, services were held in private dwellings. In 1771 
a small house of worship was erected and Rev. Thomas Gair installed as pastor. 
In 1787 the church decided it was not able to support a pastor and Mr. Gair 
went to a church in Boston. In 181 1 the society was reorganized and incor- 
porated, with Rev. William Gammell as pastor, and in 1823 the church building 
was enlarged and improved. It was thoroughly remodeled in 1874, at a cost of 
$12,500, one-half of which was given by George Cummings, one of the deacons. 
A new parsonage was built in 1879. 

In 1 76 1 a town meeting in Bellingham voted to build a Baptist Church "on 
the knoll in the crotch of the roads at the town centre." This is the second 
oldest church of this denomination in the county. The North Bellingham Baptist 
Church was established in 1847, an d for many years the two Baptist churches 
were the only ones in the town. 

On October 27, 1806, the first services conducted by a Baptist minister in 
Brookline were held at the house of Thomas Griggs. The preacher was 
Rev. Joseph Grafton, often called "Father Grafton." No church was organized 
until June, 1827, and the following years a chapel was erected at the corner of 
Washington and School streets. On March 25, 1830, Rev. Joseph M. Driver 
was ordained as pastor. A new church was soon afterward built and the old 
chapel converted into a parsonage. Such was the beginning of the "First Baptist 
Church of Brookline." 

The Baptist Church of Canton was organized on April 27, 181 2, by Elder 
Joel Briggs of Randolph, who preached the first Baptist sermon in the town 
earlier in the year, and on April 14th baptized four persons. Twenty-one mem- 
bers signed the membership roll, but on June 22, 1814, the church was reorganized 
with a membership of thirty-five. Rev. Henry Kendall was the first pastor of 
the church after the reorganization. The first church building was completed 
in 1820, and was dedicated on January 14, 1821. A new building was dedicated 
on June 13, 1837, and was completely remodeled in 1869. The pastor of this 
church in June, 1917, was Rev. N. B. Rogers. 

In 1812 Rev. William Gammell, then pastor of the Medfield Baptist Church, 
visited the few Baptist families of Sharon and held services at the homes of Leavitt 
Hewins and Joshua Whittemore. A number of people attended these meetings 
and some of them united with the church. They were baptized in Billings' Pond 
and early in the year 181 3 a Baptist Church was organized with twenty-six 
members. In August. 1831, Rev. Caleb Green was installed as pastor and two 
years later the first church edifice was completed. It was greatly enlarged in i860. 

A Baptist society was organized in Foxboro in the latter part of the year 
182 1. In March, 1822, Rev. Warren Bird was called to the pulpit as pastor 
and remained with the church for over six years. The first house of worship 
was built in 1822, at a cost of $1,200. In May, 1838, it was removed to the 
lot upon which the town house was afterward built. Virgil S. Pond purchased 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 423 

this building in 1850, when the new church was built on School street. It cost 
$4,200. Some years later it was remodeled almost to the extent of a new house 
and was dedicated a second time on January 22, 1879. 

In 1808 a division occurred in the Third Parish of Dedham, growing out 
of the location of the new meeting house, and about sixty of the members with- 
drew and united with the Baptist Church of Medfield. It was due to this asso- 
ciation of strength that the Medfield Church was resuscitated and incorporated 
three years later. After the new meeting house in the Third Dedham Parish 
was finished, the old one was advertised to be sold at auction. It was purchased 
by Aaron Baker, who later sold it to the seceders and it was removed to its 
present location. Rev. William Gammell preached alternately there and at Med- 
field, and on November 1, 1824, the "First Baptist Church in Dedham" was 
organized with Rev. Samuel Adlam as pastor. It is now known as the West- 
wood Baptist Church. 

On November 15, 1832, the First Baptist Church of Medway was organized 
in the West Parish, with Rev. William Bowen as pastor. It has never been a 
strong church, but maintains its organization and holds services in a house that 
was built about 1840. 

In 1837 a number of Baptists living in Dover, Needham and Natick organized 
themselves into a society and the next year a chapel was built at Charles River 
Village. Twenty years later, other churches having been formed in Needham 
and Natick, it was decided to move the Dover Church to a new location, which 
was done. Services were continued for some years after the removal of the 
chapel, but the number of members kept decreasing and the society was finally 
disbanded. 

About 1841 a Baptist evangelist, Rev. John Blain, visited Braintree and held 
meetings. Within a year a society was organized under the name of the "First 
Baptist Church of Braintree" and a house of worship was erected. This society 
had hardly been organized when some of the sect known as "Millerites" gained 
a foothold and began predicting the destruction of the earth in 1843. Their 
meetings were held frequently — sometimes every day for a week or more at a 
time — and quite a number of converts were made. The excitement over the 
prophecy of the Millerites weakened the Baptist Church, and after a few years 
the church building was sold to the Methodists, some of the members joining 
that society. 

The Second Baptist Church, now the only one in the town, was organized 
about 1869 by persons who withdrew from the First Baptist Church. They 
bought the old school house on the corner of Washington and West streets 
and remodeled it for a house of worship. Subsequently the building was 
removed to Elm street, almost opposite the First Congregational Church. After 
seven or eight years the society failed for want of support and Braintree was 
without a Baptist Church for nearly ten years. The society was then reorganized 
and now holds regular services with Rev. P. L. Cosman as pastor. 

On September 13, 1843, a Baptist society of twenty-one members organized 
in East Dedham, sixteen of them coming from the church in West Dedham. A 
small chapel was erected and in I848 Rev. William C. Patterson became the 
first regular pastor. The congregation grew in numbers and a new church build- 
ing was erected on the corner of Myrtle and Milton streets. It was dedicated 



424 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

on November 18, 1852, and is still used by the society, though it has been recently 
repaired and remodeled. 

The first Baptist Church in Wrentham was organized at Sheldonville about 
1843 ar, d a house of worship was erected. Later the site was acquired by the 
Universalists, who put up a new building. The Baptist society then removed 
to its present location on West street, almost opposite the end of Hancock street, 
where it now owns property valued at $3,200. 

In 185 1 a few Baptists living in the village of Weymouth Landing and the 
immediate vicinity began holding weekly prayer meetings and the women organ- 
ized a sewing circle. With the funds raised by the circle Union Hall was 
rented and services held there at such times as the Baptist ministers of the 
neighboring towns could attend. On March 13, 1852, a Sunday school was 
commenced. Preaching continued at intervals during the next two years, and 
on February 7, 1854, the first steps toward the organization of a church society 
were taken. The organization was completed on June 21, 1855, with Rev. Andrew 
Dunn as pastor. Mr. Dunn had commenced his ministerial labors in April 
and it was through his efforts that a small chapel was built on Washington 
street. It was dedicated on July 12, 1855, and served the congregation for 
about ten years. Then a larger house of worship was erected at the corner of 
Washington and Broad streets, nearly opposite the chapel. 

The first regular service of the first Baptist Church of Needham was held 
on September 24, 1854, in the school house that then stood on the corner of 
Webster street and Great Plain avenue. A Sunday school was then organized, 
with George Howland as superintendent, and a number of people signified their 
willingness to assist in the organization of a Baptist Church. Subscriptions 
to a building fund were then solicited and in a short time nearly two thousand 
dollars had been pledged. The church was built on the corner of Highland and 
Great Plain avenues and was opened for worship in June, 1855, though the 
church was not formally organized until May 26, 1856. For about fifteen years 
the society had to struggle for existence, but in 1871 a number of new members 
came in, the church building was enlarged at a cost of $4,154 and was dedicated 
on June 5, 1872, free from debt. 

Some of the members of the Baptist Church in West Dedham lived in South 
Dedham (now Norwood), and in the summer of 1858 they began to consider 
the question of organizing a new church. The first services were held in Union 
Hall on August 8, 1858, and were conducted by Rev. Joseph B. Breed of Woon- 
socket, Rhode Island. On November 3, 1858, the society was formed according 
to the usages of the Baptist Church and Mr. Breed was installed as pastor. He 
remained until the spring of i860, when he was succeeded by Rev. C. Osborn. 
The church edifice was built under the pastorate of Mr. Breed and was dedicated 
on December 1, 1859. 

Rev. J. W. Holman, who was also a physician, organized the Franklin Baptist 
Church in 1868, and was its first pastor. The society was disbanded in 1876. 
In September, 1881, Rev. A. W. Jefferson was sent to Franklin as a missionary 
and as a result of his work the church was reorganized in June, 1882, with a 
membership of thirty-five. Services were held for a time in the town hall. 
Then a neat little chapel was built on East street. In 1874 the society purchased 
the building that had been erected by the Universalists, removed it to School 




ST. JOHN'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, QUINCY 
(From a negative made about 1897.) 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 425 

street and made some changes in it. This building is still used by the congre- 
gation. 

The first Baptist Church of Wollaston was organized on August 13. 1871. 
A lot was soon afterward purchased and a neat house of worship was erected 
on the corner of Prospect and Warren streets. Rev. Joseph Walther was the 
pastor of this church at the beginning of 1917. 

The Lower Mills Baptist Church in Milton is the outgrowth of a series of 
meetings held there for about two years by the "Lower Mills Baptist Mission." 
The church was regularly organized on October 13, 1882, with twenty-five mem- 
bers. Rev. Nathan Hunt was called to the pulpit as pastor and meetings were 
held in a hall for about three years, when a church building was erected. 

THE CATHOLICS 

Catholicism was introduced into Norfolk County on September 18, 1842, when 
St. Mary's Church of Quincy was organized. Previous to that time masses had 
been said by visiting priests for the benefit of the Catholics employed in the 
granite quarries and living in the town. The present church building, erected 
some years ago, is located on the corner of Cross and Crescent streets and the 
parish is under the charge of Rev. Thomas R. McCoy. 

In 1846 visiting priests said the first masses in Dedham in private dwellings. 
Services were next held in the Temperance Hall (the old court-house) until 
1857, when St. Mary's Church on Washington street, between Spruce and Marion, 
was dedicated. Rev. P. O'Beirne was the first resident priest. In 1878 a church 
called St. Raphael's was built in East Dedham, but a little later it was merged 
into St. Mary's. On October 17, 1880, the corner-stone of the present church 
was laid. It is a magnificent stone structure, 150 feet in length by 66 feet in 
width. The parish is now under the charge of Rev. John Fleming. 

In 185 1 Rev. M. X. Carroll obtained permission of the Franklin authorities 
to use the town hall for religious services according to the Catholic ritual. He 
was succeeded by Father McCabe, of Woonsocket, in 1862. Other priests offi- 
ciated from time to time until February, 1877, when Father Griffin was installed 
as the first resident priest. The old Congregational Church had been purchased 
in 1871, and after Father Griffin took charge a parsonage was erected. 

St. Mary's Church of the Assumption in Brookline dates its beginning from 
July 30, 1852, when the first mass in the town was celebrated in Lyceum Hall. 
Two years later a church was erected at Andem Place and Rev. Michael O'Beirne 
was the first resident priest. In October, 1873, ground was purchased on Harvard 
street for a new church. The corner-stone was laid on October 1, 1882, and the 
building was completed about two years later. It cost about eighty thousand 
dollars. 

In 1852, while Father O'Beirne was in charge of St. Mary's parish at Ded- 
ham, he visited the South Parish (now Norwood) and said masses at the homes 
of the Catholics living in that vicinity. A small number of families assembled 
and a mission was organized. Meetings were held in Union Hall and Village 
Hall until April 22, 1863, when the building erected by the Universalists some 
years before was purchased and the parish of St. Catherine was formally insti- 
tuted. The house was remodeled to conform to Catholic rites and was dedicated 
on August 3, 1863. 



426 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

In I854 Father Strain, of Chelsea, and Rev. Terrence Fitzsimmons, of South 
Boston, visited Canton and conducted services in what was called the "Stone 
Factory Chapel." A few months later work was commenced on a Catholic Church 
a short distance north of the railroad station in South Canton. It was opened 
for regular services in the summer of 1855. Under different priests the parish 
prospered and in 1868 the present St. John's Church was dedicated. Its original 
cost was about sixteen thousand dollars, but considerably more than that sum 
has been expended in its improvement. The parish is now under the charge 
of Rev. John J. Farrell, with Rev. D. J. McGuire and Rev. E. T. McKenna as 
assistants. 

The parish of St. Francis Xavier, in Weymouth, was organized in 1854, with 
Father Roach as resident priest. Masses had been said by Fathers Roddan and 
Lynch in private homes in East Weymouth as early as 185 1. In 1859 tne fi rst 
church building was erected near the town hall, on Middle street. It was 
burned in 1869 and a new church was erected on Pleasant street the next year. 

At Weymouth Landing the first masses were said in Tirrell's Hall. In 1873 
the parish of the Sacred Heart was organized there, the tavern property was 
purchased and services conducted in the hall of the building until 1876, when 
a church was commenced. It is a fine edifice of brick and stone, and at the time 
it was finished was regarded as the costliest church building in the eastern part 
of the county. 

In 1879 the parish of the Immaculate Conception was organized in East Wey- 
mouth. The church building there was dedicated on November 23d of that year. 
St. Jerome's parish in Old Spain was organized in 1881. 

In 1853 a number of Catholic families connected with the parish of St. Mary's 
in Quincy took the preliminary steps for the formation of a new parish. The 
result was the establishment of St. John's Church early in the succeeding year. 
The present church building, located on the corner of Gay and School streets, 
was dedicated on June 14, 1874. Rev. M. J. Owens is the present priest in charge. 

The first Catholic Church in Foxboro was erected in 1859, though for several 
years prior to that date services had been conducted there by Rev. M. X. Carroll 
and others. The building was burned on March 1, 1862, and was not rebuilt 
until 1873. This building was also destroyed by fire on September 12, 1877, and 
the present church edifice was erected the next year. This parish also has 
chapels at East Foxboro and South Foxboro. 

St. Clair's Church at Medway Village was instituted in 1864, with Rev. P. J. 
Ouinlan as resident priest. A house of worship and a parsonage were soon 
afterward erected. 

For some years prior to 1875, the Catholics of Hingham, Cohasset and Scituate 
were under the direction of Rev. Hugh P. Smyth. In 1875 St. Anthony's 
Church at Cohasset was built and the first services held in the new church on 
the 15th of July. The parish in June, 1917, was under the charge of Rev. 
Daniel J. Carney. 

Another Catholic church edifice that was erected in 1875 is the one at Lower 
Falls in Wellesley. The first services were held in this building on April 18, 
1875, though it was not formally dedicated until May 8, 1881. Archbishop 
Williams conducted the dedicatory ceremonies. The first resident priest was 
Rev. Michael Dolan, who remained in charge of the parish for several years. 




HIOH SCHOOL AND CATHOLIC CHURCH. XEKDHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 427 

In 1877 a Catholic society was organized in Braintree as a mission of St. 
Mary's Church in Quincy. Meetings were at first held in a hall, but about 1882 
a church was built on Central avenue and the parish was organized under the 
name of St. Francis. At the beginning of the year 191 7, Rev. Hugh F. Blunt 
was the pastor. 

A Catholic Church was established in Stoughton a few years after the close 
of the Civil war, and a chapel was built by this parish on Pond street in Sharon. 
There is also a Catholic Church in Wrentham, which in 1916 owned property 
valued at $750, according to the town report. 

As Quincy is entitled to being the seat of the oldest Catholic Church in Nor- 
folk County, so it is entitled to being the seat of the youngest. In addition to 
the parishes of St. Mary's and St. John's already mentioned, the Sacred Heart 
Church was organized some years ago and now has a neat church building on 
Hancock street, near Hunt, with Rev. Thomas J. Coghlan as pastor. On April 
5, 1917, Rev. Mark E. Madden threw the first shovelful of earth in breaking 
ground for a new Catholic Church at Hough's Neck. 

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 

A Congregational Church may be either Trinitarian or Unitarian. In this 
chapter only those Congregational churches that hold to the Trinitarian doc- 
trine are treated, the others being given under the head of Unitarian churches. 
The first churches established in Norfolk County were of the Congregational 
faith, some of them afterward adopting the Unitarian doctrine. 

The oldest church organization in the county is probably the one known as 
the First Church of Weymouth, though no record of its establishment is known 
to be in existence. Rev. William Morrell, a minister of the Church of England, 
came over with the Gorges Company in 1623, and quite likely conducted religious 
services in the infant colony during his short stay of about eighteen months. In 
the summer of 1635 Rev. Joseph Hull came with a company from Weymouth, 
England, and it is believed that the church was regularly organized soon after 
his arrival. He was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Jenner in 1636. During the 
next few years there was some contention over who was pastor, but in 1640 the 
members united on Rev. Samuel Newman. A meeting house was built on 
"Burying Hill," nearly opposite the present soldiers' monument, and in December, 
1652, it had fallen into such a condition that the selectmen were directed "to 
do what may be necessary to make it more comfortable and prevent any further 
decay." The house was again repaired in 1667, when the first bell was hung, 
and in 1682 it was torn down. A new meeting house was erected that year upon 
land purchased of John Holbrook. It was 40 by 45 feet in dimensions and cost 
£280. This house was burned on April 23, 1751. It was rebuilt, but was re- 
placed by the present edifice in 1832. This church, known as the "Old North 
Church." is the mother of all the Protestant churches in Weymouth. 

Wrentham was set off from Dedham and incorporated as a town in 1673. 
King Philip's war followed soon after and no permanent settlements were made 
until after the close of hostilities. In March, 1681, the inhabitants of the town 
took the first steps toward the building of a meeting house, and it was not fin- 
ished for several years. The first minister in Wrentham was Rev. Samuel Man, 



428 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

who began his labors there before the settlement was abandoned on account of 
King Philip's war. When the pioneers returned to the plantation after the war 
and began the work of rebuilding their homes, Mr. Man rejoined them and it 
was under his pastorate that the meeting house above mentioned was erected. 

In October, 1785, more than a century after the church was established, the 
town voted with the church members in the call and settlement of Rev. David 
Avery as minister. It was not long until some of the members grew dissatisfied 
with the pastor and a controversy was commenced which lasted for several years. 
On February 4, 1793, the town "resolved by a vote of seventy-four to one not to 
employ Mr. Avery as a gospel minister any longer," and Lemuel Kollock, Oliver 
Pond and Dr. Jenks Norton were appointed a committee to inform Mr. Avery 
of the vote. Mr. Avery ignored the town's action and the controversy went on 
until July, 1798, when the church voted unanimously to call Rev. Elisha Fisk 
to the pulpit. Since then the church has been fairly prosperous and in 1916 owned 
property valued at $12,500. 

On December 2, 1713, Caleb Gardner, Jr., offered to donate a site for a 
meeting house in Brookline, and on the same date the town meeting voted to 
build a meeting house "of the same Demensions with the Meting House in the 
South west part of Roxbury." Thomas Gardner, Samuel Aspinwall, Thomas 
Stedman, John Sever and Erosamond Drew were chosen as a committee to 
superintend the erection of the building. The "Demensions" were 35 by 44 feet. 
In May, 1804, it was voted to build a new church and the corner-stone was laid 
in April, 1805. It was 64 by 68 feet, with a porch 19 by 38 feet in front. The 
new house was dedicated on June 11, 1806. This house served the congregation 
until the present structure was erected in 1848. The first pastor was Rev. 
Nehemiah Walter. 

The first Congregational Church in Medway was organized on October 7, 
1714, in that part of the town afterward set off as Millis, under the name of the 
"First Church of Christ." The first services were held in the dwelling of Peter 
Adams. On November 20, 1715, the first meeting house, located on "Bare Hill," 
was dedicated, with Rev. David Deming as pastor. Shortly after the close of 
the Civil war in 1865, a Sunday school was established at Rockville by this church, 
and in 1876 a chapel was erected at that place. 

Needham was incorporated in November, 171 1, and the first Congregational 
Church was organized on March 20, 1720. Rev. Josiah Townsend was the first 
pastor. For over a century this congregation worshiped according to the cardinal 
doctrines of the evangelical churches of New England. Then there came a 
spiritual apathy which resulted in the church passing out of the hands of Con- 
gregationalism. 

On April 28, 1856, a meeting was held by those who believed in the Congre- 
gational faith, and steps were taken to reorganize the church. Rev. Ebenezer 
Burgess preached the first sermon for the new organization in Village Hall on 
the first Sunday in July. The pulpit was supplied by different ministers until 
February 8, 1857, when Rev. Lucius R. Eastman was installed as pastor. Meet- 
ings were held in Village Hall until December 28, 1859, when the first house of 
worship was dedicated, the sermon on that occasion being preached by Rev. E. N. 
Kirk, of Mount Vernon Church, Boston. Rev. J. E. M. Wright came to this 
church as pastor in July, 1875, and continued with it for nearly five years. 




FIRST PARISH CHURCH, QUIN( V. ORGANIZED 1636 
Beneath the portico of this church are entombed the remains of John Adams and 

John Quincy Adams. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 429 

Toward the close of his pastorate a revival resulted in the addition of several 
new members and the church building was enlarged and remodeled. 

By an act of the Legislature in the spring of 1723, the South Precinct of 
Weymouth was established. The South Parish was organized on June 21, 1723, 
and on the 15th of July Rev. James Bayley was settled as minister. A meeting 
house had already been built and Mr. Bayley had been holding service for 
several months. The church, known as the Second Congregational Church of 
South Weymouth — sometimes called the "Old South Church" — was fully or- 
ganized on September 18, 1723. Mr. Bayley remained with this church as pastor 
until his death on August 22, 1766. 

A call was then extended to Rev. Ephraim Briggs, but opposition developed 
and he declined to accept. On October 26, 1768, Rev. Simeon Williams was 
ordained as the second regular pastor. Rev. W'illiam Tyler, who had been 
junior pastor under Mr. Williams, was ordained on February 24, 1819, Mr. 
Williams having died in December previous, and remained with the church for 
nearly thirteen years. He was succeeded by Rev. Charles I. Warren, who 
remained only a little over a year. Then for four years the church was without 
any regular pastor. During that time a division arose, some of the members 
withdrawing and forming the Edwards Society. The breach was healed in 1837, 
but in 1842 another strong party withdrew and formed the Union Church, notice 
of which will be given hereafter. Despite this secession, the Old South Church 
survived and is still in existence. 

When Bellingham was incorporated on November 27, 1719, one provision of 
the act was that the people should "settle a learned orthodox Minister within 
the Space of three years now coming." In January, 1723, the town voted to 
grant fifty acres of land to the first minister settling therein, and not long after- 
ward Rev. Thomas Smith entered upon his duties. He remained but a short 
time and in the winter of 1726-27 Rev. Jonathan Mills was ordained. A meeting 
house was built, but this church was superseded in 1761 by the Baptist Church 
at Bellingham Center. 

Randolph's Congregational Church was organized in the fall of 1728, the 
present towns of Randolph and Holbrook having been set off as the South 
Precinct of Braintree by an act of the General Court, approved on December 
28. 1727. Services were held by various ministers until the spring of 1731, 
when Rev. Elisha Eaton was ordained as pastor. The first meeting house had 
been erected prior to the establishment of the precinct, but it was rudely built, 
without paint, means of heating in cold weather, steeple or bell. After the 
precinct was organized an acre of land was purchased of Joseph Crosby for 
forty shillings. On this acre, on the border of the public square, the present 
church was dedicated in 1825. 

On October 8, 1730, the South Parish of Dedham (now Norwood) was 
incorporated by act of the General Court. It was known as the Second Precinct. 
On the 9th of November fifty pounds were raised and appropriated "to secure 
a preacher for six months — three months to be at the house of John Ellis and 
three months at the house of Nathaniel Guild, if it can be obtained." At the 
same time it was voted to build a meeting house, but a dispute arose over its 
location and several years passed before that dispute was finally settled. A 
committee of the General Court was sent in 1734 to investigate the situation. 



430 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Upon the recommendation of this committee, some of the citizens in the new 
precinct were attached to the old parish, and on January 4, 1735, the South 
Parish voted "to build a meeting house on the land formerly Ebenezer Dean's, 
which is the place a committee of the Great and General Court has ordered a 
meeting house to be erected." 

Such was the beginning of the Norwood Congregational Church. The pres- 
ent house of worship, on the corner of Walpole and Winter streets, was erected 
in 1828, part of the timbers in the old meeting house being used in the construc- 
tion of the new one. 

Franklin was set off as the Second Precinct of Wrentham by an act of the 
General Court approved by Governor Belcher on December 23, 1737. At the 
first precinct meeting, held on January 16, 1738, it was voted to build a meeting 
house 31 by 40 feet in dimensions. About twenty members of the Wrentham 
Congregational Church withdrew by letter, and on February 16, 1738, Rev. 
Joseph Baxter of the Medfield Church organized the Franklin Congregational 
Church. On November 8, 1738, Rev. Elias Haven was installed as pastor. A 
new meeting house was built in 1789. The last services in this building were 
held on September 28, 1840, when the funeral of Dr. Nathaniel Emmons, who 
had been pastor for almost sixty-seven years were conducted there. The next 
day the men began tearing down the structure to make way for the present edifice. 

Mention has been made of the First Church of Christ in the Town of Med- 
way. The Second Church of Christ was organized in that town on October 4, 
1750, with Rev. David Thurston as pastor. All efforts to obtain a history of 
this Congregational society resulted in failure. 

In 1763 the first Congregational meeting house was erected in the Town of 
Foxboro. At that time the territory now comprising the town formed a part of 
Stoughton. When the Town of Foxboro was incorprated by the act of June 10, 
1778, the church was reorganized and Rev. Thomas Kendall was ordained as 
pastor. In 1822 a new house of worship was built near the site of the old one, 
and this served the congregation until the erection of the present edifice in 1854. 

Wellesley was set off as the West Precinct of Needham in 1778, and in 1797 
eighteen families were added to the precinct by the annexation of a portion of 
Natick. The inhabitants then felt strong enough to maintain a church organiza- 
tion, and on September 6, 1798, a Congregational society of ten members was 
formed. Rev. Thomas Noyes was ordained as pastor on July 10, 1799, and a 
neat chapel was soon afterward erected. This building was remodeled and dedi- 
cated on January 1, 1835. In 1868 the present house of worship was built and 
the old one was sold to Charles B. Dana, who removed it and afterward presented 
it to Wellesley College, where it is known as "Dana Hall." 

The Union Congregational Church of Weymouth and Braintree was organ- 
ized on March 13, 1810, by members of the first churches of the two towns. 
The Hollis Street Church in Boston, which stood where the Hollis Street Theater 
now stands, was then about to be taken down. It was purchased by the Union 
Church and removed to East Braintree, where it was rebuilt and dedicated on 
December 31, 181 1. Rev. Daniel A. Clark was the same day ordained as pastor. 
The present church building was dedicated on December 13, 1898. 

On the last day of August, 1818, the First Parish of Dedham elected Rev. 
Alvan Lamson as "a public Protestant teacher of piety, religion and morality," 




CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, DEDHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 431 

by a vote of eighty-one to forty-four. In this action the church, by a vote of 
seventeen to fifteen, refused to concur, claiming that in the election of a pastor 
the first steps should be taken by the church organization. Notwithstanding this 
refusal, Mr. Lamson was ordained on October 29, 1818, by a council that had 
been called to hear the differences of opinion. 

The dissenters caused another council to be called for November 18, 1818, 
but that council gave no advice. The question was then carried to the courts, 
where the action of the parish in electing Mr. Lamson, and that of the council 
in ordaining him, were upheld. The members who opposed his ordination then 
withdrew from the church and organized an orthodox Congregational Church. 
A meeting house was erected on the opposite side of High Street from the old 
parish meeting house. It was dedicated on December 30, 18 19, and on March 
14, 1821, Rev. Ebenezer Burgess was installed as pastor. Five years later a 
new vestry was built by Mr. Burgess at his own expense. 

On December 15, 1818, forty members of the Congregational Church in 
Randolph, including the two deacons, were dismissed to form the "Second 
Church" in East Randolph (now Holbrook). A meeting house was immediately 
built and the first regular pastor, Rev. David Brigham, was installed on Decem- 
ber 29, 18 19. In 1856 dissensions arose in the church, the membership became 
divided, and on December 30, 1856, the Winthrop Church, named in honor of 
Gov. John Winthrop, was formed. This society first held its meetings in E. N. 
Holbrook's hall until the new church building was completed. It was dedicated 
on January 24, 1858. The new church prospered, while the old Second Church 
languished, being without a regular pastor for several years, and in 1864 ceased 
holding meetings altogether. On January 29, 1874, the two were united under 
the name of the Winthrop Congregational Church of Holbrook. On the morn- 
ing of December 25, 1877, the church building and town hall were destroyed by 
fire. The present church edifice was then erected and dedicated on February 
22, 1880. 

The present Congregational Church in Stoughton is the outgrowth of a divi- 
sion in the old Third Precinct church in 1822. The original Congregational 
Church of Stoughton is now the First Unitarian Church of Canton. In Septem- 
ber, 181 7, Rev. Ebenezer Gay, a strict Calvinist, was called to the pulpit of the 
Third Precinct church. Some of the members were dissatisfied from the start 
with his pastorate and quite a number united with the Universalist Church. 
The majority remained, however, and in 1822, forced Mr. Gay's resignation. 
This same majority, with the exception of a few, then decided to adopt the 
Unitarian form of worship, and the remnant met on July 1, 1822, and "appointed 
a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer." It was also voted to call a council 
to advise with regard to the formation of a new church. 

The new Congregational Church first met at the house of Daniel Hayward, 
next in William Holbrook's hall until June 1, 1825, when the meeting house was 
dedicated. Rev. Calvin Park became pastor in October, 1825. The present 
house of worship was dedicated on June 28, 1852. It is 58 by 75 feet in dimen- 
sions and cost about twelve thousand dollars. 

On October 8, 1824, the corner-stone of the Congregational Church in Cohas- 
set was laid, and the society was organized on the 24th of November following. 



432 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Rev. Aaron Pickett was the first pastor. The pastor of this church in the spring 
of 1917 was Rev. Fred V. Stanley. 

The Orthodox Congregational Church of Walpole was organized at the house 
of Mrs. Catharine Allen on November 13, 1826, with twenty-nine members. 
Meetings were held for about a year in the second story of a building on the 
corner of Main and East streets. During that time the pulpit was supplied by 
such ministers as could be obtained from Boston and the churches of adjacent 
towns. The church building was dedicated in September, 1827, Rev. John Cod- 
man, of Dorchester, preaching the sermon. It cost about three thousand dollars, 
and was thoroughly remodeled in 1867, at an expense of seventeen thousand 
dollars. The first pastor of this church was Rev. Asahel Bigelow. 

The Second or Orthodox Congregational Church of Medfield dates its begin- 
ning from February 6, 1827, when several members withdrew from the First 
or Unitarian Church for the purpose of forming a new society. For about four 
years meetings were held in a small hall over the store on the corner of Main 
and North streets. Rev. Arthur Granger was installed as the first regular pastor 
in 1 83 1. The following year a church building was erected. It was enlarged 
and repaired in 1873 and in 1876 it was totally destroyed by fire. The present 
house of worship was built in 1877, at a cost of about ten thousand dollars. 

The Evangelical Congregational Church of Canton was organized on July 
3, 1828, at the home of Mrs. Katherine Hartwell with ten members. During 
the first eighteen months of its existence the society had neither settled pastor 
nor house of worship. In 1830 a church edifice was dedicated and Rev. William 
Harlow was installed as pastor. The present house of worship was dedicated 
on August 22, i860, though it has since undergone extensive repairs and alter- 
ations. 

What is known as the South Congregational Church in Braintree was the 
third established in that town. The society erected a church building in South 
Braintree and on August 4, 1830, Rev. Lyman Matthews was ordained as the 
first pastor. He remained with the church until the fall of '1844. In the latter 
'70s the meeting house was burned to the ground, but another was immediately 
rebuilt upon the same site and it is still used by the congregation. In June, 
191 7, Rev. Tyler E. Gale was pastor of this church. 

The Third Congregational Church in Medway was organized on December 
7, 1836, with Rev. Luther Bailey as the first pastor. He served the society for 
several years, and when he withdrew the church was disbanded. Some of the 
members of this organization united with others in the formation of the Evan- 
gelical Congregational Church on September 7, 1838. A house of worship was 
erected in Medway Village and Rev. David Sanford was ordained as pastor. 
This church met with better success than its predecessor and is still in existence. 

In Dover a number of the members of the old First Church grew dissatisfied 
with the doctrine preached by Rev. Ralph Sanger in 1838, and on the 28th of 
December of that year they organized the Second Congregational Church. Steps 
had previously been taken toward the building of a meeting house, which was 
formally dedicated on June 27, 1839. Rev. George Champion was the first pastor 
of this church. In 1878 the Dover and South Natick churches were consolidated 
by the Home Missionary Society, and the union lasted until May, 1880, when it 
was dissolved. The following month the Dover and Charles River societies 




REV. SAMUEL DEXTER 
One of the early pastors of the First Church, Dedham. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 433 

were united by the action of the Home Missionary Society, but in the fall of 
1882 the latter withdrew, leaving the Dover Church to itself. 

In the sketch of the Second Congregational Church of Weymouth reference 
is made to a division in that society in 1842. Those who withdrew formed the 
Union Church of South Weymouth on June 20, 1842, and the church was fully 
established on the first of the following November. At first meetings were held 
in Rogers' Hall, but before the close of the year a church building was completed. 
The first regular pastor of this church was Rev. George Denham, who was 
called to the pulpit on July 3, 1843. I n l &7° a new church edifice was com- 
menced and was completed the succeeding year, at a cost of $40,000. A parsonage 
costing $4,000 was also "built about the same time. 

The Congregational Church of East Weymouth was formed on March 4, 
1843, by ten members who had withdrawn from the Methodist Episcopal Church 
and organized a new society of that denomination. It became a Congregational 
Church on February 25, i860. As a Congregational Church the society prospered 
and some twenty years after the change was made was the strongest church of 
that faith in the Town of Weymouth. When first established in 1843, a house 
of worship was erected, which was enlarged in the early '80s to accommodate the 
increase in attendance. 

Early in the year 1844 a number of Brookline people who had been attending 
the First Church, or others outside the town, united and formed the Harvard 
Congregational Church. A house of worship was built on the corner of Wash- 
ington and School streets and was dedicated on August 26, 1844, the sermon 
being preached by Rev. Edward N. Kirk, of Boston. On the same day the 
church was formally organized with twenty-seven members. Rev. Richard S. 
Storrs, Jr., was ordained pastor on October 22, 1844. The ordination sermon 
was preached by Mr. Storrs' father, who was then pastor of the Congregational 
Church in Braintree. In May, 1873, tne present beautiful edifice was dedicated. 
Its cost was about sixty thousand dollars, two-thirds of which were given by 
Martin L. Hall. 

In 1847 a church was built at Grantville (now Wellesley Hills) and on Feb- 
ruary 24, 1847, a Congregational Church was organized with thirty members. 
Rev. Harvey Newcomb was the first pastor of this society. The church building 
was remodeled in 1877. 

W^hat is known as the Pilgrim Congregational Church of North Weymouth 
was formed on May 14, 1851, and a house of worship was erected the same 
year. In May, 1852, Rev. Calvin Terry was called to the pulpit as the first 
regular pastor, services previous to that time having been held by such ministers 
as could be procured. In 1881 a parsonage was built and a little later the church 
edifice was remodeled. 

The South Franklin Congregational Church is the outgrowth of meetings 
held in the schoolhouse in that part of the town during the summer of 1855. A 
Sunday school was first formed and on August 20, 1855, a council of churches 
met at the house of Willard C. Whiting. As a result of this council a Con- 
gregational Church was organized on the 13th of the following month with 
eighteen members. In the spring of 1856 the sum of $1,500 was subscribed to 
a fund for the building of a meeting house. The corner-stone was laid on 
September 5, 1856, and the building was dedicated on July 25, 1857. For several 

Vol. 1—28 



434 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

years the pulpit was supplied by various ministers, but the church at last grew 
strong enough to sustain a regular pastor. 

In 1862 the Congregationalists living in that part of Cohasset called Beech- 
wood began holding meetings in a hall. The meetings were conducted by Rev. 
Cyrus Stone and about a year later a church was organized. On October 18, 
1866, the corner-stone of a church edifice was laid and the building was dedi- 
cated on January 15, 1867. This house stands near the line between Cohasset 
and Scituate and some of the members of the church live in the latter town. 
In June, 1917, the pastor of this church was Rev. L. M. Bosworth. 

The Congregational Church of East Walpole dates its beginning from a 
meeting held at the house of Mrs. Selany Smith on April 28, 1877. After 
irregular services for more than three years, an ecclesiastical council met in 
Bird's Hall and the church was formally recognized. On April 20, 1881, it was 
admitted to full fellowship in the Suffolk South Conference of orthodox churches. 
In June, 1882, the first steps were taken toward the erection of a meeting house. 
William Rhodes and his wife donated a site in the following October and a house 
was erected at a cost of about twenty-two hundred dollars. It was dedicated 
on May 18. 1883, but has since been enlarged and remodeled. 

The Oakdale Congregational Church was established in 1882, with Rev. C. B. 
Smith as pastor, and in the same year a small but comfortable house of worship 
was erected at the junction of East and Washington streets. This church is no 
longer in existence. 

There are several Congregational churches in the county whose history has 
not been ascertained by the writer. The church at Wollaston was organized in 
1876 and now has a neat edifice at the corner of Winthrop and Lincoln avenues. 
In Quincy there are the Atlantic Memorial, Bethany, Finnish, Swedish, Park and 
Downs Union and Washington Street Congregational churches, all owning church 
buildings and supplied with regular pastors. There is also a Congregational 
Church at Islington. 



CHAPTER XLIX 
CHURCH HISTORY, CONTINUED 

EPISCOPAL CHURCH — METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH — UNITARIAN CHURCH — THE 
UNIVERSALISTS — MISCELLANEOUS CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS 

EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

In 1701 a "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" was 
organized in London. About 1728 this society appointed Rev. Timothy Cutler 
a missionary in America. Mr. Cutler was a native of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 
a graduate of Harvard College, had been pastor of a Congregational Church at 
Stratford, Connecticut, and upon his conversion to the doctrines of the Church 
of England was made rector of Yale College. In 1731 he was rector of Christ 
Church in Boston, and in that year conducted the first religious services according 
to the Episcopal ritual in Norfolk County in a house owned by Joseph Smith in 
westerly part of Dedham Village. Here he preached at intervals to a small 
audience until about Christmas, 1833, after which he visited the village only 
occasionally. 

In 1758 a church building near the corner of Court and Church streets was 
commenced and the first services therein were conducted on Easter Sunday, 
1761, by Rev. Ebenezer Miller, a resident of Braintree, who succeeded Mr. Cut- 
ler in charge of the society at Dedham. In August, 1767, Rev. William 
Clark began conducting the services in Dedham. He became a resident of Ded- 
ham in 1772. When the law was passed in 1777 forbidding prayers for the king 
of England, Mr. Clark closed his church. At a town meeting held on May 29, 
1777, he and three members of his church were declared by vote to be inimical 
to the United States. On the fifth of June he was arrested and taken to Boston, 
where he was finally adjudged guilty and sentenced to banishment and con- 
fiscation of his estate. After being confined for nearly three months on a ship 
in Boston Harbor, he was released and returned to Dedham, but it does not 
appear that he attempted to conduct services. On June 10, 1778, he left Ded- 
ham, having obtained a passport through the influence of Dr. Nathaniel Ames, and 
went to England. After the war was over he returned and died at Quincy 
in 1815. 

When first organized the church took the name of Christ Church. The 
building began in 1758 was not finished at the time of the Revolution and was 
made a depot for military stores. A minister by the name of Parker conducted 
services on a few occasions after the departure of Mr. Clark, but no real effort 
was made to reestablish the church until 1792, when Rev. William Montague 
came to Dedham. On February 19, 1792, Fisher Ames leased to the church two 

435 



436 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

tracts of land for 999 years. The church building was repaired and in 1797 it 
was removed to Franklin Square. In November, 1821, Rev. Isaac Boyle was 
installed as rector and the name of the church was changed to St. Paul's. The 
church building was totally destroyed by fire on December 7, 1856, and the 
present stone church, on the corner of Court Street and Village Avenue, was then 
erected, at a cost of $30,480. The brick chapel on the opposite side of Court 
Street was built in 1875. 

That services were conducted according to the Episcopal forms in Brain- 
tree as early as 1761 is certain, for in that year Rev. Ebenezer Miller, of Braintree, 
is mentioned as succeeding to the charge of the services in Dedham. A small 
meeting house had been built as early as 1728. After Mr. Miller's death Rev. 
Edward Winslow was in charge of the Episcopal society in Braintree. The 
church was in the North Precinct (now Quincy) and in June, 1777, Mr. Wins- 
low's name was among those presented to the selectmen "as inimical to the 
popular cause." He left the town and followed the British army to New York. 
After the Revolution the church was revived and is now known as Christ Church, 
of Quincy, with Rev. William Grainger as rector. The present house of worship 
is located on the corner of Quincy and Elm streets. 

St. Chrysostom's Church in Quincy is situated on the corner of Hancock and 
Linden streets, with Rev. F. H. Stemstra as rector, and in the Town of Brain- 
tree the Episcopal Church of the present was organized in 1900. It owns no 
house of worship, services being conducted in the Masonic Temple. 

St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Brookline was organized in July, 1849, with 
Rev. William Horton as the first settled pastor. In 1850 a movement was started 
for the erection of a church building. Harrison Fay gave $5,000 toward the 
fund and Augustus Aspinwall donated the site, at the junction of St. Paul 
Street and Aspinwall Avenue, and $2,000 in addition. The total cost of the 
structure was $25,000. In 1857, during the pastorate of Rev. John Seeley Stone, 
a chapel was built at a cost of $6,000, of which $4,000 were contributed by the 
women of the parish and $1,000 was given by Mrs. Sarah P. Rogers of Boston. 
All Saints Church in Brookline was organized later and has a neat house of wor- 
ship at the corner of Beacon Street and Dean Road. 

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church of Cohasset dates its beginning from April 
26, 1893, in the Grand Army Hall. On June 4, 1893, tne parish was organized 
and soon afterward Rev. Charles Ferguson was installed as rector. He was suc- 
ceeded in 1895 by Rev. J. B. Thomas, who remained until 1898. On December 
8, 1899, tne corner-stone of the church edifice was laid by Bishop Lawrence and 
the building was consecrated in June, 1900. though the tower was not then fin- 
ished. It is a handsome stone structure and stands upon a commanding eminence 
on North Main Street near the center of the village. In June, 1917, Rev. Howard 
K. Bartow was rector. 

Christ's Church in Brookline was erected in i860, at the private expense of 
David Sears, "to provide a Liturgy which shall comprehend those doctrines, 
and those only, which are essential to guide the mind in a right worship of God." 
The building is modeled after a church in Colchester, England, and is located 
on Colchester Street, Longwood. It is a handsome stone structure, with paneled 
walls and a large, square tower. 

In June, 1865, St. Clement's Church was established in the East Parish of 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 437 

Medway (now Millis), with Rev. Benjamin F. Cooley as the first rector. On 
February 5, 1871, the building was burned and was never rebuilt, but in 1874 
a stone edifice was commenced in Medway Village. It was completed in 1880 
and was given the name of Christ's Church. On Christmas evening, 1881, the 
first services in the building were conducted by Rev. John S. Beers, a missionary- 
at-large, and on January 8, 1882, Rev. Samuel Edwards became officiating mis- 
sionary under the Diocesan Board of Missions. 

The Episcopal Church in Wrentham was organized about 1878 or 1879 an d 
soon afterward erected a building for purposes of worship. According to the 
town report for 1916, this society then owned property valued at $6,000. 

Trinity Episcopal Church of Canton was organized about 1890. A neat 
house of worship was erected a little later and is still used by the society. In 
June, 1917, the rector of this church was Rev. John H. deVries. 

Episcopal services were conducted in Stoughton as early as 1769 by Rev. Wil- 
liam Clark, who officiated on alternate Sundays in Stoughton and Dedham. A 
church was afterward established in Stoughton, but its history could not be 
ascertained. There is also an Episcopal Church in Norwood, and the Church 
of the Good Shepherd in Dedham is located on the corner of Cedar street and 
Oakdale avenue. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

The Methodists did not gain much of a foothold in Norfolk County until 
about the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. In 1800 a Methodist Church 
was built on Pine Plain, in what is now the Town of Wellesley. Rev. George 
Pickering was the first minister. The puplit was supplied by circuit ministers 
for about forty years, when the church went down, owing to dissensions among 
the members. 

In 1810 Rev. John Tinkham held services occasionally in Stoughton, at the 
house of Hezekiah Gay. A class was formed on January 30, 1812, and Stough- 
ton was added to the list of appointments on the Mansfield and Easton circuit. 
In 18 18 a church building was erected in West Stoughton and the society was 
formally organized. Stoughton became a station in 1834. At North Stoughton 
another class was formed in 1827 and preaching was held at the house of Elijah 
Gill. In 1835 some of the West Stoughton Methodists proposed to build a new 
church near the center of the town and asked the North Stoughton class to join 
in the movement. This North Stoughton declined to do and the result was the 
erection of two meeting houses — one at North Stoughton and the other at the 
center of the town. The latter cost about two thousand dollars and was dedi- 
cated on September 16, 1835. North Stoughton failed to receive a minister from 
the conference in 1836 and became a Protestant Methodist Church. The present 
Methodist Church in Stoughton Centre was built in 1866. A parsonage was also 
erected about the same time. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Cohasset was organized on December 
17, 181 7, part of the membership coming from Hingham. The first meeting 
house was dedicated in June, 1825. It was replaced by a new and more com- 
modious building, which was dedicated on September 3, 1845, Rev. E. E. Taylor 
preaching the sermon. The church is located in North Cohasset. 



438 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

In 1822, owing to trouble in the "Old North Church" of Weymouth, some 
of the members withdrew and early in 1823 formed the first Methodist class in 
the town. A meeting house was built in 1825 and the rapid growth of the 
society made the enlargement of this building necessary three years later. About 
1833 a division arose and some of the members separated from the conference 
and organized a Protestant Methodist Church. Being in the majority, these 
members claimed the old church property and the others built a new Methodist 
Episcopal Church in 1844. It was enlarged in 1850 and was destroyed by fire 
on December 28, 185 1. Another house of worship was soon erected and dedi- 
cated on October 12, 1852. This building also was burned on February 23, 1870, 
after which the present church edifice was built. A fine parsonage was built in 
1867, three years before the burning of the second house of worship. 

Another Methodist Episcopal Church in the Town of Weymouth is located 
at Lovell's Corner. It was organized as a Congregational Society in 1866 by 
Rev. D. W. Waldron, then pastor of the church at East Weymouth. A regular 
pastor was installed in 1872 in the person of Rev. Joseph C. Halliday, who 
remained with the church until July, 1877. For a few months there was no 
regular pastor, but in November, 1877, Rev. Henry P. Haylett, a student of the 
Boston University was engaged. Under his pastorate the church was changed 
to its present denominational connection. 

About 183 1 a few Methodists living in Braintree united in the formation of 
a class and meetings were held in Arnold's Hall, the services being conducted by 
such clergymen as could be obtained. Rev. Jefferson Hamilton was oftener thus 
engaged than any other minister, but he removed from the town after a few 
years. The organization appears in the town records as the "Methodist Episcopal 
Society of Braintree," though it is doubtful if a complete church organization 
was ever effected. After the departure of Mr. Hamilton the class tried to obtain 
the town hall in which to hold meetings, but the request was refused by the 
selectmen and soon afterward the little society disbanded. 

On February 22, 1874, the present Methodist Episcopal Church in East Brain- 
tree was organized, with Rev. Louis E. Charpiot as pastor. Soon after the 
organization of the society the building formerly used by the First Baptist Church 
was purchased and used as a house of worship until the latter part of the year 
1883, when it was destroyed by fire. The present church building was then 
erected. The pastor of this church at the beginning of 1917 was Rev. Earle M. 
Rugg. There is also a Methodist Church in South Braintree, organized about 
the close of the last century. Rev. O. W. Reynolds was pastor of this church in 
June, 1917. 

On October 12, 1843, a Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated in East 
Dedham. Rev. Enoch Mudge and Rev. Timothy Merritt, two Methodist minis- 
ters, had held services in the town at intervals since 1817, and in 1825 a class of 
twenty members was formed, most of whom belonged to the church in Dor- 
chester. After the organization of the society in 1842, meetings were held for a 
time in Trescott's Hall. The original church building was twice enlarged, and 
was then replaced by the handsome stone structure on the corner of Oakdale 
avenue and Fairview street. The society is now known as the "First Methodist 
Episcopal Church of Dedham." 

The Methodist Church of Franklin was organized in April, 1872, though the 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 439 

first services of that faith were held in the town as early as 1853 by Rev. John 
M. Merrill, who preached several times in the town hall and gathered a con- 
siderable congregation. He was succeeded by Rev. Pliny Wood in 1855, an< ^ tne 
next year Rev. M. P. Webster took up the work. In 1857 the conference de- 
clined to furnish a minister and nothing further was done until 187 1, when 
meetings were again started under the charge of Rev. John R. Cushing, which 
led to the organization of the church the following April. The corner-stone of 
the church building was laid on October 3, 1872, and the house was dedicated 
on June 25, 1873. 

On July 19, 1857, the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Medway was 
organized and Rev. William Jackson was installed as pastor. A house of wor- 
ship was erected in West Medway, where the society still holds services. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Highlandville (now Needham Heights) 
was organized in April, 1867, with Rev. John W. Coolidge as the first pastor. 
Before the organization of this society, the Methodists living in the vicinity had 
been accustomed to worship at Newton Upper Falls. Thirty- four members of 
that church then became identified with the Needham Heights Church and meet- 
ings were held in a hall. The church building was dedicated in 1876. It cost 
about ten thousand dollars and in 1884 the debt that had hung over it from the 
time of its completion was canceled. 

In the spring of 1873 the Washington Street Methodist Church of Brookline 
was organized and the old house of worship that had been erected by the Har- 
vard Congregational Church was purchased for $24,500. It was refitted and 
Rev. E. D. Winslow was appointed by the conference as the first pastor. In 
1876 the house was sold and the society held services in the town hall until May, 
1879, when the site of the present church was purchased and the building erected 
at a cost of $2,657. It was dedicated in September of that year. 

The Methodist Church of Walpole Centre was formed in 1874 with twelve 
members. A Mr. Noon was the first preacher, but was succeeded at the end of 
one year by Rev. J. H. Vincent. About 1882 the society bought the lot adjoining 
the town house and a chapel was erected thereon. It was afterward enlarged 
and remodeled into its present form. 

Methodism had been introduced in Walpole as early as 1818, when Rev. Ben- 
jamin Haines began holding meetings in South Walpole. A class was formed 
the next year and in 1822 a church was organized. The first house of worship 
was built in 1830 on the lot where the parsonage was afterward located. The 
second and present church edifice was dedicated in 1846. 

On the evening of July 26, 1878, a few Methodists living in the Town of 
Holbrook held an informal meeting, at which it was decided to organize a class 
and hold weekly meetings. Interest in the class meetings developed to such an 
extent under the leadership of Rev. Joshua Monroe, of West Abington, that a 
church was organized on February 11, 1879, by Rev. D. A. Whedon, presiding 
elder of the Providence District. Services were held in Library Hall until that 
was burned on April 13, 1880, and then in the committee room of the town build- 
ing. On February 8, 1882, the first house of worship was dedicated. It is thirty- 
one by fifty feet and cost $2,275. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Norwood was organized on June 26, 
1887, and the church edifice near the corner of Dat and Washington streets was 



440 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

erected soon afterward. A Methodist Church was organized in Sharon in 1876. 
There are four "Methodist Churches in Ouincy, viz.: The Hall Place Church, 
which was organized in 1872, in West Quincy. Rev. W. H. Germany was the pastor 
of this church in the spring of 1917. The First Wollaston Church, located on 
the corner of Beale and Safford streets, with Rev. George M. Bailey as pastor 
in 191 7. The Atlantic Church, at the junction of East Squantum and Hunt 
streets ; and St. Paul's Swedish Methodist Church on Fort Street. 

UNITARIAN CHURCHES 

The oldest Unitarian Church in Norfolk County is the First Parish Church 
of Dedham, which according to the Unitarian Year Book for 1917 was organized 
in 1636, though Erastus Worthington's History of Dedham and Mann's Annals 
both give the date of organization as November 8, 1638. The first pastor of the 
church was Rev. John Allin, who was ordained on April 24, 1639, and remained 
with the church until his death on August 26, 1671. The pastors who succeeded 
Mr. Allin were: William Adams, 1673-1685 ; Joseph Belcher, 1693-1723; Sam- 
uel Dexter, 1724-1755; Jason Haven, 1756-1803; Joshua Bates, 1803-1818; Alvan 
Lamson, 1818-1860. As told in the preceding chapter, in connection with the 
Dedham Congregational Church, it was at the time of the election of Mr. Lamson 
that a division occurred in the parish. Concerning this division Worthington 
says: "As it often happens in public discussions, the real points of difference 
were kept in reserve. But there can be no doubt that the parish and the church 
were then divided into two religious parties, known afterwards under the dis- 
tinctive names of Unitarian and Orthodox. Mr. Lamson was a graduate of the 
Divinity School of Harvard College and was a Unitarian. The Rev. Dr. Henry 
Ware, who preached the ordination sermen, had been elected in 1805 Hollis 
professor of divinity as a Unitarian, and Doctor Channing, who was one of the 
council, had his celebrated controversy with Doctor Worcester in 181 5, which 
resulted in the separation of the Unitarian from the Orthodox Congregationalists. 
All the members of the ordaining council represented churches which were either 
at that time or afterwards became Unitarian." 

That portion of the parish which accepted Mr. Lamson as pastor retained 
possession of the church property and has since been known as a Unitarian 
Church. The first meeting house was finished in 1646. It was afterward enlarged 
and in 1673 was replaced by a new one. In 1762, while Rev. Jason Haven was 
pastor, a new house of worship was erected. After the division in 1818, the 
house was enlarged, and in 1857 it was again remodeled. It is still used by the 
society. Rev. William H. Parker is the present pastor. 

The Unitarian Church of the First Parish in Ouincy was originally the parish 
church of Braintree. The Unitarian Year Book for 1917 says it was organized 
in 1636, but Samuel A. Bates, who was well informed on the subject of Brain- 
tree history, gives the date of its establishment as September 16, 1639. and 
Charles Francis Adams, in writing of the present church edifice says: "Thus, 
when the meeting house of 1732 was removed in 1828, the visible emblem which 
connected the modern with the colonial town may be said to have disappeared. 
The connecting link between the two chains was broken. The period, therefore, 
of one hundred and eighty-nine years which elapsed after the gathering of the 




IXITARIAX CHURCH. DKDHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 441 

First Church of Braintree, and before the pulling down and moving away of 
the third meeting house in Quincy, must historically be considered by itself." 

Going back 189 years from 1828 would establish the year of organization as 
1639, which agrees with the statement of Mr. Bates. Rev. William Tompson 
was the first settled minister. He remained with the church for nineteen years. 
He was succeeded by Henry Flint (or Flynt) in 1659, but lived only one year 
and four months after becoming pastor. 

In 1708 the Town of Braintree was divided into precincts and the church 
became the North Precinct Church, remaining so until the incorporation of the 
Town of Quincy in 1792. From 1792 to 1820 it was known as the Quincy 
Church. Among the pastors while the North Precinct Church was Rev. John 
Hancock, father of the John Hancock who was president of the Continental 
Congress at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and 
afterward governor of Massachusetts. Mr. Hancock was ordained on November 
2, 1726, and served as pastor until his death in May, 1744. The present pastor 
is Rev. Adelbert L. Hudson. 

The Unitarian Church of Medfield was established in 1651, with Rev. John 
Wilson as the settled minister. Mr. Wilson built his house where the town hall 
was afterward erected. For the first two or three years services were held in 
the homes of the settlers. In 1653 a meeting house was commenced, but it was 
not finished until three years later. It was a small building, with a thatched 
roof, and stood where the present Unitarian Church is now located. Rev. Joseph 
Baxter succeeded Mr. Wilson in 1697, ar, d in 1706 the old meeting house was 
replaced by a new one, which served the society for eighty-three years. In 
1827 several members of this church asked for and were granted letters of 
dismissal. They then formed an orthodox Congregational Church. In 1874 
the church building was remodeled, at a cost of $6,000. Rev. Leonard Cushman 
was pastor of this church at the beginning of the year 1917. 

Milton was ^incorporated as a town in 1662, but no regular church was organ- 
ized until April 24, 1678, though Robert Vose had deeded eight acres of land 
in 1664 "for a meeting house and other ministerial purposes," to a board of 
trustees. A meeting house was built in 1672 and Rev. Thomas Mighill, who 
had conducted services since 1660, closed his labors in the town and went to 
Scituate. Rev. Joseph Emerson had also preached at various times prior to 
the organization of the church and the erection of the meeting house. Rev. Sam- 
uel Mann (or Man), who was driven out of Wrentham by King Philip's war, 
acted as pastor for about two years, and in 1681 Rev. Peter Thacher was settled 
as minister. He continued as pastor for forty-six years. 

On October 3, 1785, a town meeting voted to build a new meeting house, 
52 by 66 feet. It was dedicated on New Year's day, 1788, and served the con- 
gregation for one hundred years or more. It was then practically rebuilt. 
Rev. Roderick Stebbins is the present pastor. 

On Christmas day in 171 1 the Town of Needham voted to build a house for 
public worship and appropriated eighty pounds for that purpose, "one-half to 
be paid in money and the other half in labor." The frame was raised in 1712, 
but the house was not finished until the following year. Services were held in 
it, however, before it was fully completed. On the night of October 17, 1773, 
the meeting house was destroyed by fire and a controversy immediately arose 



442 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

over the location of a new one. This resulted in the town being divided into two 
precincts. In the old parish a new house of worship was ready for use in the 
latter part of July, 1774, though it was not finished for some time after that date. 
It was taken down in 1835 and part of the timbers used in the construction of 
the present church edifice. In 1879 tne building was removed to its present 
location. The present pastor is Rev. Arthur W. Littlefield. 

The present Unitarian Church of Canton was organized as a Congregational 
Church on October 13, 1717, and Rev. Joseph Morse was then ordained as 
pastor. In 1727 he was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Dunbar, who remained with 
the church until his death on June 15, 1783, a period of almost fifty-six years. 
A small meeting house had been built before the church was organized in 1717, 
but it was replaced by a new one, which was dedicated on January 26, 1825. 
Rev. Bradley Oilman was pastor of this church in June, 191 7. 

On October 26, 1717, the First Unitarian Church of Brookline was organized 
with thirty-nine members by Rev. Ebenezer Thayer of the Roxbury Church. A 
meeting house was soon afterward built and on November 5, 1718, Rev. James 
Allen was installed as the first pastor. The present house of worship of this 
society is located on the corner of Walnut and Warren streets, with Rev. Abbot 
Peterson as pastor. 

Cohasset was set off as the Second Parish of Hingham on November 21, 
1717, and at the fist precinct meeting on August 11, 1718, it was voted to raise 
twenty-five pounds for the support of a minister. The church was not fully 
organized until 1721, Rev. Nehemiah Hobart, "who had preached several times," 
being ordained as pastor on December 13, 1721, the day following the organiza- 
tion. A meeting house had been built by the residents about eight years before 
the church was established. A new house was erected in 1747. The present 
pastor of this church is Rev. William R. Cole. 

What is now the Unitarian Church of Walpole was organized as a Congre- 
gational Church in 1724, and on March 30, 1725, the town meeting voted to erect 
"a suitable house for public worship." Pending the completion of the meeting 
house, services were held in the homes of some of the citizens. The first reg- 
ular settled minister was Rev. Joseph Belcher, who accepted a call on May 
17, 1728. He was dismissed by vote of the town on May 5, 1729, and the 
following October Rev. Phillips Payson was ordained as his successor. He con- 
tinued as pastor until his death on January 22, 1778. In 1781 it was voted to 
build a new meeting house on the site of the old one. The new structure was 
completed in 1791 and Rev. George Morey came to the church as pastor. About 
1839 the meeting house was removed to its present location and remodeled. 

A new church was established in the western part of Dedham on June 4, 
1735, and after a parish was incorporated on January 10, 1736, it took the name 
"The Clapboard Trees Church." On the day the church was organized Rev. Josiah 
Dwight was installed as pastor. A meeting house had been commenced before 
that time, but it was not finished until 1736. In 1808, when the division occurred 
over the location of a new meeting house, those that remained with the original 
church built the present house of worship, which was dedicated on March 1, 
1809. It is now known as the Westwood Unitarian Church, of which Rev. Alfred 
C. Nickerson is pastor. 

The Unitarian Church of Sharon dates its beginning from the year 1740, 





BAPTIST CHURCH. NEEDHAM 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, NEEDHAM 




UNITARIAN CHURCH, NEEDHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 443 

when the town was set off as the Second Precinct of Stoughton and the church 
was organized as a Congregational society. The first meeting house was com- 
menced the same year, but was not finished until 1744. Rev. Philip Curtis was 
the first regular pastor. A new meeting house was built in 1787. In 1821 part 
of the members withdrew and formed the Christian Society (Trinitarian), of 
which Rev. Joseph B. Felt was the first minister. At that time Rev. Samuel 
Brimblecom was pastor of the old precinct church, which had in the meantime 
adopted the Unitarian doctrine and is known as a Unitarian organization. 

Dover was set off as the Fourth Parish of Dedham in 1748 and incorporated 
under the name of Springfield. On March 14, 1749, a precinct meeting voted 
to appropriate twenty-five pounds to pay for three months' preaching and a 
committee was appointed to procure a minister. It was also voted to build a 
meeting house 34 by 42 feet. The building was completed in due time and on 
March 20, 1754, a precinct meeting was held within its walls. Rev. Thomas 
Jones was the first minister, who preached thirteen Sundays in the spring of 
1749. Probably because the twenty-five pounds voted for three months' preach- 
ing was exhausted, no further services were held until the year 1754, when the 
grand jury of Suffolk County warned the inhabitants to give reasons for this 
neglect. During the next six years services were irregularly held by various 
ministers. In 1762 the General Court admonished the people that they must 
settle a minister. Accordingly, on November 10. 1762, Rev. Benjamin Caryl 
was ordained as pastor. The meeting house was burned on January 20, 1839, 
and. the present house of worship was completed within the next eight months. 
Rev. Daniel M. Wilson was pastor in 191 7. 

In December, 1869, a few Unitarians living in the vicinity of Grantville 
engaged Rev. A. B. Vorse to conduct services and a tentative organization was 
formed. In 1871 Maugus Hall was purchased by the society and the organization 
of the church dates from that year. It is now known as the Wellesley Hills 
Unitarian Church. 

There are several other Unitarian Churches in the county, the history of which 
the writer was unable to learn. The Wollaston Church was organized in 1888 
and in 191 7 the pastor was Rev. Carl G. Horst. Mr. Horst was also at that 
time the pastor of the Church of the Unity, which was organized at Randolph 
in 1889. The second Unitarian Society of Brookline was formed in 1896 and 
the church edifice on the corner of Sewell Avenue and Charles Street was soon 
afterward erected. Rev. Thomas Van Ness is the present pastor. All Souls 
Unitarian Church of Braintree was established in 1900. This society has a neat 
chapel on Elm Street, with Rev. Frank A. Powell as pastor. 

THE UNIVERSALISTS 

The oldest Universalist Church in Norfolk County is the one located at 
Stoughton. It was incorporated on August 10, 1744, as the orthodox Congrega- 
tional Church of the Third Precinct. On December 26, 1744, it was voted to 
built a meeting house, in which the first service was held on May 23, 1745. 
While it was under construction Rev. Thomas Jones preached for three months, 
and on January 5, 1746, Rev. Jedediah Adams was installed as pastor. He 
continued with the church until 1792, when Rev. Edward Richmond was ordained. 



444 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

On January 7, 1818, Rev. Ebenezer Gay was ordained as pastor and it was under 
his pastorate that the differences arose that finally resulted in a division of the 
church. He was a strict Calvinist and quite a number of the members soon 
grew dissatisfied with his teaching. The previous pastors — Adams and Rich- 
mond — had been rather liberal in their views, but with Mr. Gay there was no 
compromise. Samuel Bird, who leaned toward Universalism, was excommuni- 
cated. This did not improve the situation any, and on July 3, 1822, a formal 
separation took place. In the meantime a new house of worship had been built 
and dedicated on June 2, 1808. This building was left in the hands of the 
minority and Rev. Ephraim Randall served as pastor until the annual parish 
meeting in 1825. In 1826 it was voted to have eight months' Unitarian preach- 
ing and four months' Universalist. Rev. William L. Stearns, a Unitarian, was 
settled as pastor in October, 1827, and remained until dismissed by the society 
on December 13, 1830. At that time the church became a Universalist organi- 
zation, with Rev. Massena B. Ballou as pastor. The Unitarians then withdrew 
and started a society of their own, but it was not long until they returned to 
the church and accepted the Universalist doctrine. The church building was 
remodeled in 1848, and in 1870 it was practically rebuilt, at a cost of over eleven 
thousand dollars. 

On January 26, 1 819, the "Norfolk Universalist Society" was organized at 
the home of George Downs in Canton, with nearly one hundred members, from 
Canton, Stoughton, Sharon, Milton and Dedham. Meetings were held in Leavitt's 
Hall and the old town hall until 1848, when the first steps were taken for the 
erection of a meeting house. It was dedicated on February 3, 1849, when the 
name of the organization was changed to the "First Universalist Church of 
Canton." In June, 1917, the pastor of this society was Rev. Isabella Macduff. 

The Norwood Universalist Church was incorporated in response to a petition 
dated October 8, 1827, and signed by Jeremiah Draper and thirteen others. It 
was at first known as the Universalist Church of the South Parish of Dedham. 
Services had been held prior to that time by Rev. Thomas Whittemore, Rev. T. B. 
Thayer, Rev. Hosea Ballou and others. Soon after the incorporation of the 
society steps were taken to erect a house of worship, which was dedicated on 
June 14, 1830. Rev. Alfred V. Bassett was then installed as the first regular 
pastor. On April 22, 1863, the old church building was sold to the Catholics 
and a new one was erected on the corner of Washington and Nahatan streets. 
It was completed in 1864, at a cost of over sixteen thousand dollars, and is still 
occupied by the society. 

The First Universalist Church of Ouincy was organized in 1832. A church 
building was erected soon afterward. This building was offered to the town 
in 1844 for a town hall, but the offer was declined. The present church is on the 
corner of Elm and Washington streets. 

A Universalist society was organized in Braintree in 1833, chiefly through 
the efforts of Samuel V. Arnold, who gave the use of his hall for holding meet- 
ings. Upon the death of Mr. Arnold the society was disbanded. 

In the early part of the year 1836 some of the citizens of Weymouth Landing 
grew somewhat restive under the teachings of the pastor of the Union Church, 
and on July 21, 1836, organized the First Universalist Society of Weymouth. 
Rev. Matthew H. Smith was engaged to preach on alternate Sundays in Wales' 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 445 

Hall. On September 13, 1839, the church edifice was dedicated, having just 
been completed at a cost of $6,400. Rev. Calvin Gardner conducted services 
in the new house for three Sundays, and in November, 1839, Rev. John S. Barry 
was installed as pastor. During the next ten years no fewer than six ministers 
were called to the pulpit, and for about two years during the Civil war no regular 
services were held. 

The Second Universalist Society of South Weymouth began holding meet- 
ings in Columbian Hall in 1835 (during the controversy in the Second Congre- 
gational Church), with Rev. Sylvanus Cobb in charge. At that time there was 
no society and there was considerable opposition to the movement on the part 
of many of the people of South Weymouth. In 1848 the "Washington Cor- 
poration" was formed, out of which grew the Second Universalist Church, and 
in 1849 R ev - John Parker became the first regular pastor. The next year a 
house of worship was erected. 

Universalist services were held in Foxboro in the latter '30s by visiting min- 
isters and a small society formed. In 1843 the Universalist Church, at the head 
of Bird street and facing the Common, was erected and Rev. Charles W. Mellen 
was installed as pastor. The church building originally had a spire, but it was 
blown away by a storm and was never replaced. 

On November 19, 1853, the Third Universalist Society of North Weymouth 
was organized, though the first regular pastor. Rev. R. L. Killam, began his 
labors on April 1, 1855. The meetings were held on alternate Sundays in Har- 
monial Hall, Mr. Killam preaching at Scituate on the other Sundays. From 
1859 to 1 87 1 the society had no regular pastor, services being conducted by such 
ministers as could be procured from time to time. On April 1, 1871, Rev. G. 
W. Skinner, of Quincy, was installed and remained one year, when he was fol- 
lowed by Rev. G. W. Whitney. During his pastorate a meeting house was built. 
It was dedicated on January 16, 1873, and on the 28th of June following the 
society was reorganized with a membership of twenty-two. 

The Universalist Church of Franklin was organized on October 4, 1856, 
under the name of "Grace Church." Meetings were at first held in the town 
hall. Dr. Oliver Dean gave a liberal donation to the new church and on May 
5, 1858, a church building was dedicated. Its cost was about seven thousand 
dollars. In 1873 the present church edifice, directly in the rear of the first one, 
was dedicated. It is one of the finest churches in the county and cost $52,000. 
The first settled pastor was Rev. A. N. Adams, who was installed the day the 
first church building was dedicated. The Franklin Church is one of the strongest 
Universalist churches in the county. There is also a Universalist Church in 
Brookline. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

In Milton there are two Evangelical churches. The First Evangelical Society 
is an offshoot of the orthodox church established in 1678. It was organized in 
1834 by Rev. Samuel Gile, pastor of the First Parish, who with a number of 
the members withdrew to form the new church. Rev. Albert K. Teele was pastor 
of this church for a quarter of a century. 

The Second Evangelical Society was organized on November 9, 1843, at what 



446 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

was then known as "Railway Village," now East Milton. The first regular 
pastor of this organization was Rev. Edwin Leonard, who was installed on 
March 25, 1852. 

The New Jerusalem Church of Brookline was established in 1852 by a few 
members of the Boston Society of the New Jerusalem who were residents of 
Brookline. Services were at first held in the town hall. A complete organization 
was effected in April, 1857, when Rev. T. B. Hay ward was installed as pastor. 
In 1862 a temple was built at the corner of High and Irving streets. It is a neat 
Gothic structure, the walls of stone and the interior finish of oak. A parsonage 
was built in 1882. 

One of the most attractive church edifices in the county is the Church of 
Our Saviour at Brookline, the parish of which was organized on February 
19, 1868, by Amos Lawrence and a few others. The church building was erected 
by Amos A. and William B. Lawrence and presented to the parish as a memorial 
to their father. It is located at the corner of Carleton and Monmouth streets. 

Along in the early '70s a few members of the New Jerusalem or Sweden- 
borgian Church began holding meetings in Franklin, at the house of J. A. Wood- 
ward, but there is no record of a society ever having been regularly organized. 

In Quincy there are two Presbyterian churches. The First Presbyterian 
Church, located on the corner of Quincy and Water streets, was organized on 
November 19, 1884. Rev. C. E. Campbell was pastor of this church in June, 
191 7. The First United Presbyterian Church is located at Fort Square and is 
under the pastoral charge of Rev. J. H. Sankey. 

The Pope Memorial Church at Cohasset was built in 1890 as a memorial to 
Charles L. Pope, who was one of the town's active and influential citizens in 
his day ; there is a Jewish synagogue on Winthrop street in West Medway ; in 
Quincy there is a Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church located on Granite 
street, with Rev. Leander Hokenson as the present pastor; and the Ponkapoag 
Chapel in Canton is under the pastoral charge of Rev. David W. Dunlap. 

Within recent years the growth of the Christian Science Church has been 
almost remarkable. In several of the Norfolk County towns services have been 
conducted according to the doctrines of this denomination. On June 3, 1917, a 
handsome edifice of Quincy granite, with trimmings of Indiana limestone, was 
dedicated as the First Church of Christ. Scientist, of Quincy. It is located on 
Greenleaf street, is one of the most attractive church buildings in the county, 
and cost in the neighborhood of fifty thousand dollars. 

In this chapter and the preceding one, the object has been to give in a 
general way the leading incidents in the religious development of the county. 
When it is remembered that there are more than one hundred and fifty church 
organizations in the county, many of them over two hundred years old, it will 
be seen that to go into a detailed history of each would require more space than 
a work of this nature could be expected to devote to the subject. It is possible 
that a few religious organizations have been omitted. This has not been done 
intentionally, but because not enough information concerning them could be 
obtained to give an intelligent account of their establishment and career. 



CHAPTER L 
FRATERNAL SOCIETIES, ETC. 

MASONIC FRATERNITY — NORFOLK COUNTY MASONRY THE HIGHER DEGREES — ORDER 

OF THE EASTERN STAR INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS — ODD FELLOW- 
SHIP IN NORFOLK COUNTY — ENCAMPMENTS — DAUGHTERS OF REBEKAH — 

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS — NORFOLK COUNTY KNIGHTS GRAND ARMY OF THE 

REPUBLIC — NORFOLK COUNTY POSTS WOMEN'S RELIEF CORPS MISCELLANEOUS 

SOCIETIES — SOCIAL AND LITERARY CLUBS. 

In writing the history of any particular fraternal order for such a work as 
this, it is well to bear in mind that the members of the order can obtain a 
much better account of the local organizations from the lodge records, while 
those who are not members, are, as a rule, but little interested in the matter. The 
aim, therefore, in this chapter is to give a general history of each of the leading 
fraternal societies, with brief accounts of the Norfolk County lodges, rather 
that to go into an extended account of the lodges alone. This treatment of the 
subject, it is believed, will prove to be of more interest, both to the members 
of the order and to outsiders. 

MASONIC FRATERNITY 

There is no doubt that Freemasonry is first entitled to recognition, as being 
the oldest, most widely distributed, and probably the strongest of the fraternal 
organizations. Tradition carries the origin of the fraternity back to the Pytha- 
goreans, the Essenes, the Carmathites and similar organizations of ancient times. 
It is quite possible that certain features of the rituals of these ancient brother- 
hoods were incorporated into the ceremonies of the guilds of stonemasons and 
builders during the Middle Ages. That was the era of church and cathedral 
building, when members of these guilds traveled over Europe under the patronage 
of the church. They were invested with certain privileges not granted to masons 
who were not members, hence the term "Free Masons." Toward the close of 
the church-building period, members of these guilds banded themselves together 
into a society for friendly intercourse and mutual benefit, and it is practically 
established that this ancient fraternal society is the parent of modern Free- 
masonry. 

The order is said to have been introduced into England about 930 A. D. 
by Athelstan. A few years later a convention of Masons at York adopted a 
code of laws, which it is claimed forms the basis of all later Masonic institutions. 
In 1275 a convention of the traveling guilds was held at Strassburg, and about 
a century later the members of the guilds were divided into three classes — 

447 



448 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Apprentices, Craftsmen and Master Workmen. From England and Continental 
Europe the order found its way to Scotland, where the oldest known Masonic 
Lodge in the world is now to be found, viz. : Mother Kilwinning Lodge, the 
records of which date back to the year 1599. 

Four lodges of English Masons sent delegates to a convention in London 
on June 24, 1717, at which time the English Grand Lodge was organized. At 
that time there was but one degree in the order, but in 1724 the English Grand 
Lodge adopted the classification of the guilds near the close of the Fourteenth 
Century and prepared a ritual including the degree of Entered Apprentice, 
Fellow Craft and Master Mason. These three degrees constitute what is called 
the "Blue Lodge" of the present day. 

On June 5, 1730, Daniel Coxe of Burlington, New Jersey, received a com- 
mission as "Provincial Grand Master of the Provinces of New York, New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania in America." The commission was issued by the Duke 
of Norfolk, then the English Grand Master. St. John's Lodge at Philadelphia 
was organized by Mr. Coxe in the fall of 1730, the first Masonic lodge to be 
organized in America. On April 30, 1733, Viscount Montague, then Grand 
Master of England, commissioned Maj. Henry Price of Boston "Provisional 
Grand Master of New England," and before the close of that year Major Price 
organized a lodge at Boston. This was the first Masonic lodge in New England 
organized under the authority of the English Grand Lodge. After the Revolu- 
tion, the Masonic lodges in America severed their connection with the English 
Grand Lodge and each state organized a grand lodge of its own. 

NORFOLK COUNTY MASONRY 

Rising Star Lodge, located at Stoughton, is the oldest Masonic lodge in Nor- 
folk County. It was instituted on December 10, 1799, with Peter Adams as the 
first worshipful master; Benjamin Capen, senior warden; Joseph Richards, 
junior warden; Abraham Capen, secretary. Paul Revere, who had joined the 
order some time previous, was present at the organization of this lodge. In 
March, 1810, the lodge was removed to Canton, thence to Sharon in 1814, and 
back to Stoughton in December, 1817. During the anti-Masonic excitement of 
1830-32, Rising Star Lodge never missed a meeting. It now meets on the 
second Thursday of each month in regular session, special meetings being called 
as occasion requires. 

Rural Lodge was organized in Randolph on June 8, 1801. William P. Whit- 
ing was the first worshipful master; Jonathan Wales, Jr., senior warden ; Thomas 
French, Jr., junior warden. In December, 1803, a petition to the Grand Lodge 
of Massachusetts was prepared, asking permission to remove the lodge to 
Quincy. The petition was granted and the lodge went to Ouincy, where it is 
still in existence and holds regular meetings on the first Thursday evening of 
each month. 

Constellation Lodge, located at Dedham, was organized first on March 18, 
1802, with Dr. Nathaniel Ames as the first worshipful master. For a few years 
the lodge prospered and on June 24, 1829, a Masonic building, on the north side 
of Church Street near Norfolk Street, was dedicated. At that time the anti- 
Masonic sentiment was just beginning to develop throughout the country. As a 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 449 

result of the opposition, Constellation Lodge surrendered its charter about 1842. 
Five years later the Church Street building was sold. 

The lodge was reorganized under a dispensation from the Grand Lodge 
dated February 9, 1871. Frederick D. Ely was the first worshipful master after 
the reorganization. The lodge is now in a prosperous condition and holds 
meetings regularly on the top floor of Memorial Hall. 

St. Alban's Lodge of Foxboro was chartered in 18 18 and is still in existence. 
It has a well furnished hall and holds its regular meetings on the Monday evening 
on or before the full moon in each month. 

Blue Hill Lodge at Canton is the outgrowth of the removal of Rising Star 
Lodge back to Stoughton in 181 7. The Masons living in Canton a few years later 
petitioned the Grand Lodge for permission to organize a lodge at Canton. A 
dispensation was granted and from that time to the present Blue Hill Lodge 
has had a steady growth. 

Orphans' Hope Lodge was instituted on June 8, 1825, at Weymouth Landing, 
the charter being granted to "John Edson and others." John Edson was the 
first worshipful master and Timothy Gordon the first secretary. During the anti- 
Masonic excitement, the charter of this lodge was surrendered in 1830, but on 
September 10th it was reissued and the lodge was reorganized. The reorganized 
lodge met at North Weymouth for a time, then removed to East Weymouth, 
where a hall was built about 1884. Regular meetings of this lodge are now held 
on the third Wednesday evening of each month. A fine, new temple has recently 
been erected for the use of the Masonic bodies of Weymouth. 

Orient Lodge of Norwood was instituted under a charter from the Grand 
Lodge dated March 16, 1862. Owing to the Civil war, the growth of the lodge 
was slow for a few years, but it is now one of the strongest Masonic organizations 
in the county. A handsome temple was completed in 1917, at a cost of over 
sixty thousand dollars. The regular meetings of Orient Lodge are held on the 
second Monday evening of each month. 

Konohasset Lodge, located at Cohasset, was instituted in June, 1865, with 
twelve charter members, four of whom lived in the Town of Scituate. George 
Beal, Jr., was the first worshipful master. About 1892 the lodge erected a build- 
ing on Elm Street with two store rooms on the main floor and a hall above. 
Here regular meetings are held on Friday evening on or before each full moon. 
In 191 7 Peter W. Sharp was worshipful master and E. L. Stevens, secretary. 

Delta Lodge of Braintree was organized on July 2, 1869, at Weymouth Land- 
ing. This lodge is the outgrowth of the removal of Orphans' Hope Lodge to 
North Weymouth after its reorganization. The first meeting of Delta Lodge 
was held on May 12, 1868, at which time the Grand Lodge was asked for a 
dispensation to institute a lodge. The dispensation was granted, with Edward 
Avery as the first worshipful master and C. G. Thompson as the first secretary. 
The regular meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday evening of each month. 

Beth-horan Lodge was organized at Brookline in 1870 by Masons of that 
town who belonged to the lodges in Roxbury and Boston. George F. Homer 
was the first worshipful master. Starting with fifteen charter members, this 
lodge now has a membership of several hundred and owns its home, one of the 
best appointed in Eastern Massachusetts. Regular meetings are held on the 
second Tuesday evening of each month. 



450 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Cassia Lodge was instituted at Medfield in 1823. Academy Hall was pur- 
chased and fitted up for a lodge room. In 1845, for some reason, the lodge sur- 
rendered its charter and the building was sold to the town for school purposes. 
Some of the members of this lodge afterward joined Charles River Lodge at 
Medway, which is still in existence. 

Norfolk Lodge, located at Needham, was organized under dispensation on 
April 6, 1874, with Emery Grover as the first master. It was instituted under 
a charter dated July 1, 1875. This lodge has been twice burned out — in May, 
1882, and May, 1887. Notwithstanding these mishaps, it now numbers about 
three hundred members and holds regular meetings on the second Monday evening 
of each month. 

Excelsior Lodge, located at Franklin, holds its regular meetings on the first 
Monday evening of each month. This lodge has been organized for about half 
a century and is one of the flourishing Masonic organizations of the county. 

The youngest Masonic lodge in the county is Wollaston Lodge, which was 
instituted on June 2, 1900. It meets regularly on the first Tuesday evening of 
each month and is in a prosperous condition. 

THE HIGHER DEGREES 

There are in Norfolk County six Royal Arch Chapters, to wit : Mount 
Zion at Stoughton, organized in 1821 ; Keystone at Foxboro, instituted in 1861 ; 
Pentalpha at East Weymouth, established in 1870; Miller at Franklin, organized 
some time in the '70s; St. Stephen's at Quincy, and Hebron at Norwood. The 
latter was instituted on June 12, 1883. 

There are also two commanderies of Knights Templar. South Shore Com- 
mandery, located at East Weymouth, was instituted on October 13, 1871, and 
Quincy Commandery was chartered on March 29, 191 1. 

ORDER OF THE EASTERN STAR 

Connected with Masonry is a degree known as the "Eastern Star," to which 
the wives, sisters and daughters of Master Masons are eligible. The local organ- 
izations of this degree are called chapters, of which there are seven in Norfolk 
County, viz. : Eastern, No. 47, at Foxboro ; Mayflower, No. 65, at Weymouth ; 
Quinobequin, No. 67, at West Medway ; Quincy, No. 88, at Quincy ; Samoset, 
No. 109, at Norwood; Brookline, No. 112, at Brookline ; and Canton, No. 132, 
at Canton. 

INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS 

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows dates back to 1745 and finds its origin 
in a society organized in England in that year under the name of "The Antient 
and Most Noble Order of Bucks." Some writers have endeavored to establish 
the fact that the society was founded by some dissatisfied members of the Masonic 
fraternity, who hoped to make it a successful rival of that order, but the state- 
ment lacks foundation. The oldest records of the "Antient and Most Noble 
Order of Bucks" are those of Aristarchus Lodge, which met for some time in 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 451 

the Globe Tavern in London. About 1773 the society began to decline, but a 
few lodges held on and finally succeeded in bringing about a reorganization. 
George IV, when Prince of Wales, was admitted to membership in the "Bucks" 
in 1780, and tradition says that in the ceremonies attendant upon his initiation 
the words "Odd Fellow" were used for the first time. 

In 1803 a grand lodge was organized in England, but six years later a lodge 
at Manchester withdrew and declared itself "independent." As a sort of self- 
constituted grand lodge it revised the ritual and established a new order. In 
181 3 the "Manchester Unity, Independent Order of Odd Fellows," was founded. 
On December 26, 1806, Solomon and John C. Chambers, father and son, who 
had been initiated into the order in England, organized a lodge of Odd Fellows 
in New York City, but it was short-lived. Another effort to establish a lodge 
in New York was made in 1816, under the auspices of the Manchester Unity, but 
it also was unsuccessful. 

In 1818 Thomas Wildey came over from England and located at Baltimore, 
Maryland. He had been made an Odd Fellow in England and soon after his 
arrival in this country he began a search for other Odd Fellows with a view 
to establishing a lodge, even going so far as to advertise in the newspapers. His 
efforts bore fruit and on April 26, 1819, a lodge was instituted in Baltimore, 
with Thomas Wildey, John Duncan, John Welch, Richard Rushworth and John 
Cheatham as the charter members. This lodge was the pioneer of Odd Fel- 
lowship in America. On September 23, 1842, the American lodges severed their 
connection with the Manchester Unity and organized a grand lodge for the United 
States and Canada. In those two countries there are now about two million 
Odd Fellows. 

ODD FELLOWSHIP IN NORFOLK COUNTY 

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is the strongest of all the fraternal 
societies in Norfolk County, having twenty-one lodges and four encampments. 
These lodges differ from the Masonic lodges, in that each one bears a number. 
As the lodges are numbered in the order of their establishment, one Would natu- 
rally suppose that the lodge with the smallest number would be the oldest. This, 
however, is not true, as the Grand Lodge has adopted the custom of keeping all 
numbers intact, as nearly as possible. Should a lodge surrender its charter, the 
next one organized is given the number of the defunct lodge, so that the number 
is no indication of the age of the lodge. The order was introduced in Norfolk- 
County in 1845. During that year five lodges were organized, located in Stough- 
ton, Randolph. Quincy, East Weymouth and Foxboro. It is possible that some 
of the other lodges were also instituted in that year, as the writer has been unable 
to ascertain the date when some of them were established. 

Stoughton Lodge, No. 72, was instituted on May 5, 1845, with nine charter 
members and Elisha Page as noble grand. It is still in existence and holds 
meetings every Wednesday evening. 

Rising Star Lodge, No. 76, located at Randolph, was organized May 24, 
1845, a * a meeting held in the law office of John King. The lodge was regularly 
instituted on June 3, 1845, D Y officers of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge. Hiram 
Alden was then installed as noble grand and R. W. Turner as secretary. This 



452 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

lodge owns the building in which its hall is situated and is a flourishing organi- 
zation. 

On July 1 8, 1845, Mount Wollaston Lodge, No. 80, at Quincy, was instituted. 
This is one of the strongest lodges in the county, though some of its members 
have withdrawn at different times for the purpose of forming new lodges. Reg- 
ular meetings are held Tuesday evening of each week. 

Crescent Lodge, No. 82, was instituted at East Weymouth on August 22, 
1845. During the next quarter of a century its growth was almost phenomenal, 
as in 1870 it reported nearly three hundred members. It is still one of the leading 
lodges of the county. 

The exact date when Excelsior Lodge of Foxboro was instituted cannot be 
given. It bore the number 87 at the time it was organized, which would indicate 
that it was not far behind the lodge at East Weymouth. On October 19, 1887, 
the lodge was reorganized under its original number, and since then it has made 
a steady growth. 

King David Lodge, No. 71, located at Franklin, is another old Odd Fellows' 
organization, but the exact date of its institution could not be ascertained. 

Eliot Lodge, No. 58, was organized at Newton Upper Falls on January 30, 
1845, but at that time was not a Norfolk County lodge. On May 22, 1845, it 
surrendered its charter and was not revived until February 25, 1870, when it 
was reestablished and began holding meetings in the Parker Block at Needham. 
Here it was burned out on May 12, 1887, after which it met for a time in the 
Masonic Hall. It then moved to Highland Hall, Needham Heights, where it 
is still located. 

Wildey Lodge, No. 21, of South Weymouth, was instituted on March 9, 1875, 
with eighteen charter members. Ten years later it numbered about one hundred 
and fifty. About that time, or a little earlier, the lodge erected a building with 
two store rooms on the main floor and a public hall and lodge room above. The 
cost of this building was about fifteen thousand dollars. 

Sincerity Lodge, No. 173, of Wellesley, was instituted on August 9, 1875, by 
former members of Eliot Lodge. It has a strong membership and meets regu- 
larly in a nicely furnished hall of its own. 

Puritan Lodge, No. 179, located at South Braintree, was organized on April 
11, 1877, by Odd Fellows belonging to Mount Wollaston Lodge of Quincy and 
the lodges at East Weymouth and Canton. Five years later it numbered nearly 
one hundred members. This lodge has a nice hall and, while it cannot boast as 
many members as some of the other lodges, is in a prosperous condition. 

Tiot Lodge, No. 50, of Norwood, was organized on March 18, 1886, and 
has made a steady growth from the beginning. Another lodge organized in this 
year is Cohasset, No. 192, which holds its meetings in the hall over the Cohasset 
Savings Bank. 

John Hancock Lodge, No. 224, located at Wollaston, was organized on 
October 12, 1893, several members of the lodge at Quincy withdrawing for the 
purpose of forming the new lodge. Regular meetings are held on Wednesday 
evening of each week. 

The other Odd Fellows' lodges in the county are as follows: Blue Hill, 
No. 93, at Canton; Rising Sun, No. 99, at West Medway ; Reliance, No. 137, at 
Walpole; Medway, No. 163, at Medway; Wampum, No. 195, at Wrentham; 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 453 

Medfield, No. 216, at Medfield ; Lomia, No. 221, at Brookline; and Samuel Dex- 
ter, No. 232, at Dedham. Facts regarding the early history of these lodges could 
not be obtained, but from the Grand Lodge reports it is learned that a majority 
of them are active and enjoying a state of prosperity. Several of them own 
buildings, the lodges at Medfield and Walpole being especially energetic in carry- 
ing out the principles of the order. 

ENCAMPMENTS 

Wompatuck Encampment, No. 18, was organized at an early date at Hing- 
ham. On February 2, 185 1, it surrendered its charter and on October 27, 1875, 
was reorganized at East Weymouth, upon the petition of Stephen Cain and 
thirteen others. Regular meetings have been held ever since the reorganization. 

Mount Hebron Encampment, No. 24, is located at Stoughton. It was organ- 
ized about 1886 and holds regular meetings on the first and third Tuesdays of 
each month in the Odd Fellows' Hall. 

King's Mountain Encampment, No. 71, located at Walpole, and Manet En- 
campment, No. 75, at Quincy, are both strong in membership and active in the 
work of the order. The latter holds its regular meetings on the second and fourth 
Fridays of each month. 

DAUGHTERS OF REBEKAH 

This is a degree established for the benefit of the wives, daughters and other 
near female relatives of Odd Fellows. Members are generally referred to as 
"Rebekahs," and the lodges are called Rebekah Lodges. According to the last 
available report, there are thirteen Rebekah Lodges in Norfolk County. In the 
order of their numbers they are: Mount Olive, No. 52, at Canton; Golden 
Star, No. 65, at Randolph; Lady Franklin, No. 66, at Franklin; Abigail Adams, 
No. 90, at South Weymouth ; Amana, No. 96, at South Braintree ; Perseverance, 
No. 97, at Stoughton; Steadfast, No. 98, at East Weymouth; Rosalie, No. 116, 
at West Medway ; Columbia, No. 121, at Foxboro ; George L. Gill, No. 146, at 
Quincy; Arelia M. Stetson, No. 151, at Cohasset ; Boggestowe, No. 168, at Millis, 
and Bethel, No. 179, at Brookline. These Rebekah Lodges work in conjunction 
with the men's lodges in giving social entertainments, relief work for the sick 
and distressed, etc. 

There is one Odd Fellows' organization in Norfolk County that affiliates 
with the Manchester Unity, viz. : Granite Lodge, No. 7058, located at Quincy. 
It was organized some years ago by stone cutters who came from England, and 
now holds its meetings on the second and fourth Monday evenings of each month. 

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 

On February 15, 1864, five young men in Washington, D. C, met and listened 
to the ritual of a proposed secret, fraternal organization. They were all clerks 
in Government offices, members of the Arion Glee Club, and intimate associates. 
Their names were Justus H. Rathbone, William H. and David L. Burnett, 
Dr. Sullivan Kimball and Robert A. Champion. The ritual, which had been 



454 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

prepared by Mr. Rathbone, was based upon the friendship of Damon and Pythias. 
It was approved by those who listened to its reading, and the name "Knights 
of Pythias" was selected for the new order. Four days later Washington 
Lodge, No. i, was formally instituted in Temperance Hall. 

Franklin Lodge, No. 2, was instituted at the Washington Navy Yard on April 
12, 1864, and during the next six months several other lodges were established 
near the national capital. Owing to the fact that the great Civil war was then 
in progress, the growth of the order was slow. Discouraged by the outlook, all 
the lodges were disbanded except the one at the navy yard. Upon the restoration 
of peace a new interest was awakened, and on May 1, 1866, members of Franklin 
Lodge and some of those that had disbanded organized a grand lodge, with 
power to issue charters to subordinate lodges. Within two years the order had 
spread to cover the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and 
Pennsylvania. On May 15, 1868, the Supreme Lodge was organized by delegates 
from the lodges of those states. 

. Since the organization of the Supreme Lodge, Knights of Pythias lodges 
have been organized in every state of the Union and the provinces of Canada. 
In 1915 the order stood fourth in the list of fraternal societies, numbering nearly 
one million members. In that year over a million and a half dollars were paid 
out for relief and charitable work. The Uni formed Rank was established in 1879. 
The manual of drill used by this rank is that of the United States army. In 1898, 
a number of officers in the volunteer army in the war with Spain were selected 
from the Uniformed Rank, Knights of Pythias. Another feature of the order is 
the "Dramatic Order of Knights of Khorassan," and there is also a ladies degree, 
called the "Pythian Sisters." 

NORFOLK COUNTY KNIGHTS 

Delphi Lodge, No. 15, is the oldest Knights of Pythias lodge in the county. 
It was instituted at Weymouth Landing on December 17, 1869, with thirteen 
charter members. On September 15, 1870, the building in which the lodge met 
was destroyed by fire, causing a loss of some of the records and lodge furniture 
and fixtures worth about six hundred dollars. A new hall was found and the 
meetings resumed. Since that time the lodge has had a steady growth and now 
occupies a fine hall, well furnished. A temple of the Pythian Sisters was organ- 
ized in connection with this lodge a few years ago. 

Roger Sherman Lodge, No. 142, located at Canton, was named for one of 
the Connecticut signers of the Declaration of Independence who was a resident 
of Canton in his boyhood, and attended the Canton schools. It occupies a good 
hall and has a growing membership. 

Monatiquot Lodge, No. 83, is located in Braintree and is one of the old lodges 
of the county. Little could be learned regarding its history, as the early records 
have been destroyed. 

Merrymount Lodge, No. JJ, was organized at Quincy in May, 1913, and 
Merrymount Temple of the Pythian Sisters was organized in May, 19 16. The 
lodge meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month in a well furnished 
hall and is on the road to prosperity. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 455 

Chemung Lodge, No. 150, is located at Stoughton. It holds regular meetings 
on the second and fourth Fridays of each month and has a strong membership. 

Onward Lodge, No. 144, of Dedham, meets on the second and fourth Tues- 
days of each month in the Odd Fellows' Hall, No. 620 High Street. 

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC 

The Grand Army of the Republic is an organization of soldiers, sailors and 
marines who fought to preserve the Union in the War of 1861-65. As early 
as the spring of 1864, Dr. B. F. Stephenson and Rev. W. J. Rutledge, surgeon 
and chaplain, respectively, of the Fourteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, dis- 
cussed the advisability of organizing some kind of an association of veterans 
to perpetuate the fraternal relations established during the war. These two 
men. with a few associates, joined in calling a meeting at Decatur, Illinois, for 
April 6, 1866, and it was at that meeting that the Grand Army was born. The 
aims of the order are to collect and preserve historic relics and documents per- 
taining to the war ; to aid and assist sick and disabled Union veterans, their widows 
and orphans ; to observe Memorial Day by suitable patriotic exercises and the 
decoration of the graves of fallen comrades ; to keep alive the cherished incidents 
of the camp and campaign; and to teach lessons of patriotism to the rising 
generation. 

In the plan of organization each state constitutes a "Department" and local 
societies are called "Posts." The first post was organized at Decatur, Illinois, at 
the meeting above mentioned, and the first national encampment was held at 
Indianapolis, Indiana, in November, 1866. The order reached its greatest strength 
in 1890, when it numbered over four hundred thousand members. Each year 
since then the number of those who "answer the last roll call" has increased 
until in 191 5 the death rate was about one thousand per month. Many of the 
posts in the smaller towns have been discontinued. The Grand Army is largely 
responsible for the establishment of Memorial Day (May 30th) as a legal holi- 
day, and it has been influential in securing the enactment of laws in the states 
providing for soldiers' homes and institutions for the care and education of 
soldiers' orphans. 

NORFOLK COUNTY POSTS 

The first post in Norfolk County was Lincoln Post, No. 40, which was 
organized at North Weymouth on January 2, 1868, and was named for the 
martyred President of the United States. Gen. B. F. Pratt, who had previously 
joined the order in Boston, was the first commander. 

John F. Reynolds Post, No. 58, was organized at East Weymouth on July 
14, 1868, with Gen. James L. Bates as the first commander. It was named for 
Gen. John F. Reynolds, who was killed at the battle of Gettysburg. General 
Bates was commander of the Department of Massachusetts in 1870, and Col. Ben- 
jamin S. Lovell of this post was senior vice commander of the Department in 
1881. In August, 1873, Lincoln Post surrendered its charter and united with 
Reynolds Post. 

Sylvanus Thayer Post, No. 87, was organized at Braintree on June 4, 1869, 



456 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

with ten charter members, by Gen. James L. Bates. It was named for one of 
Braintree's veterans of the Civil war, who gave to the town the public library 
building and the Thayer Academy. This post is now one of the most active 
in the county. 

Paul Revere Post, No. 88, located at Quincy ; E. P. Carpenter Post, No. 91, 
of Foxboro; Revere Post, No. 94, at Canton; and Horace Niles Post, No. no, 
at Randolph, were all organized in the year 1869. The posts at Quincy and 
Canton bear the name of a Revolutionary patriot, and the one at Randolph was 
named in honor of Capt. Horace Niles, who commanded the first company that 
went out from the town in 1861. 

Moses Ellis Post, No. 117, located at Medfield, was established in 1870, with 
fifteen charter members. It was named for Moses Ellis, of Framingham, who 
assisted the post financially at the time of its organization. 

Charles L. Chandler Post, No. 143, was organized at Brookline in 1871. 
Starting with sixteen charter members, its growth was rapid and five years later 
the membership was about one hundred and fifty. This post is still one of the 
leading Grand Army organizations of the county. 

In 1880 the Grand Army of the Republic underwent a reorganization. Some 
of the posts that had been established previous to that time were also reorganized. 
Sargent Post, of Medway, was organized in 1882, the first to be founded in 
Norfolk County after the order was reorganized. It was named in honor of 
Dr. James H. Sargent, for many years a resident of the town. 

Henry Bryant Post, No. 98, located at Cohasset, was instituted on January 
15, 1883, and was named for a prominent citizen of the town, who was a brigade 
surgeon in the Civil war. Cyrus L. Bates was commander of this post in 1917. 

George H. Bird Post, No. 169, was organized at Norwood under a charter 
dated July 21, 1884. A post was organized at Wellesley about this time, but it 
afterward surrendered its charter and a Soldiers' Club was established in its 
place. 

Other Grand Army posts in the county are: No. 60, at Franklin; St. John 
Chambre, No. y2, at Stoughton ; No. 102, at Milton; George H. Maintien, No. 
133, at Wrentham; Charles W. Carroll, at Dedham ; and E. B. Piper Post, at 
Walpole. In the observance of Memorial Day, it has become a custom in recent 
years for the towns to appropriate money to defray the expenses of the Grand 
Army posts. These appropriations in 1916 ranged from $25.00 in Westwood 
to $400 in Quincy and Weymouth. In some of the towns quarters have been 
provided in the town building for the use of the order. 

women's relief corps 

Connected with the Grand Army is a ladies' society known as the Women's 
Relief Corps, which was founded soon after the order was reorganized in 1880. 
Almost every post has its associated relief corps, the members of which assist in 
caring for the needy and in directing social entertainments, the proceeds of which 
go into the relief fund. The strongest and most active relief corps in Norfolk 
County are those of Quincy, Weymouth, Braintree, Foxboro, Stoughton, Brook- 
line and Franklin. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 457 

THE ELKS 

Although there are but two lodges of Elks in Norfolk County, the order 
has in late years become one of the most prominent of the fraternal societies. 
It was first started as a social club in New York City in 1865, under the name 
of "Jolly Corks." The name is said to have been proposed by Charles Vivian, a 
young Englishman, who was one of the most active participants in the club 
festivities. 

In the winter of 1867-68, some one proposed that the club be used as the 
nucleus of a fraternal order. Then the objection was raised that the name "Jolly 
Corks," while proper for a local club, was not sufficiently dignified for a fraternal 
society. A committee was therefore appointed to select a suitable name and 
prepare a ritual. In the course of its labors, the committee chanced to visit 
Barnum's Museum, where the members of it saw an elk and learned something 
of that animal's habits. The name "Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks" 
was then proposed and adopted. 

New York Lodge, No. 1, was organized on February 16, 1868, and for about 
three years was the only one in the country. On March 10, 1871, it was incor- 
porated as a grand lodge, with power to establish subordinate lodges in cities 
having a population of five thousand or more. The second lodge was instituted 
in Philadelphia, soon after the incorporation of the grand lodge. On April 18, 
1876, the third lodge was instituted at San Francisco. From that time the growth 
of the order has been rapid, until now there is scarcely a city in the United States 
with the requisite population that has not its Elks' Club. In 191 5 there were 
nearly half a million members. 

During the early history of the Elks the convivial feature was prominent, 
but in more recent years it has been subordinated to the cultivation of a fraternal 
spirit and to charitable work. The motto of the order is: "The faults of our 
brothers we write upon the sands ; their virtues upon the tablets of love and 
memory." The initials "B. P. O. E." are sometimes said to stand for "Best 
People on Earth." The two lodges in Norfolk County are: Brookline, No. 886, 
and Quincy, No. 943. Both are prosperous and have good quarters for social 
intercourse and lodge work. 

MISCELLANEOUS SOCIETIES 

The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic society, and the Ancient Order of 
Hibernians are both strong in Norfolk County, especially in Cohasset, Dedham, 
Braintree, Quincy and Weymouth. In each of the last two towns there are four 
divisions of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. This order is also represented in 
Needham, Brookline, Stoughton and a few of the other towns of the county. 

Of the minor fraternal societies, in which the insurance feature is prominent, 
the Improved Order of Red Men has lodges at Needham, Norwood, Cohasset, 
Quincy and Stoughton ; the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Dedham, 
Foxboro, Needham, Braintree, Franklin and some of the other towns ; a few 
lodges of the Knights of Honor are still in existence, though this order is not 
as prominent as it was a quarter of a century or so ago ; the Loyal Order of 
Moose is represented in several of the towns, as are the Sons of Veterans, the 



458 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Daughters of the American Revolution, the Heptasophs, and the Patrons of 
Husbandry. 

In each of the principal towns there are one or more social and literary clubs, 
some of which are composed exclusively of men and others exclusively of women. 
The work of these clubs consists of the study of some favorite author, or the 
discussion of some current topic, though in some of them the social feature is 
predominant. Among these clubs may be mentioned the Brookline, Dedham 
and Franklin Country clubs, each of which owns a modern club house; the 
Dedham Canoe and Boat Club ; the Wollaston and Needham Golf clubs ; the Nor- 
folk, Weymouth, Wessagusset and Old Colony clubs, of Weymouth ; the Chick- 
atawabut, Fortnightly and Vernon clubs, of Stoughton; the Needham Unitarian 
Club ; the Quincy Yacht Club ; the Copeland, Robert Emmet, Rod and Gun and 
Women's clubs, of Quincy ; the Monday Club, of Needham, and the Veteran 
Firemen's associations of Cohasset and Stoughton. 



CHAPTER LI 
ILLUSTRIOUS SONS 

JOHN ADAMS — JOHN QUINCY ADAMS — JOHN HANCOCK — PAUL REVERE — FISHER 

AMES HORACE MANN WILLIAM T. ADAMS ELEAZAR SMITH WILLIAM M. 

THAYER ALBERT D. RICHARDSON HANNAH ADAMS MARY E. WILKINS FREE- 
MAN A LITERARY GROUP. 

Shakespeare tells us that "Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, 
and some have greatness thrust upon them." In every community there are 
certain individuals who, through accident of birth, through their own efforts, or 
through some fortunate combination of circumstances, rise above their fellow-men 
in the professions, in literary pursuits, as great inventors or in the political 
arena. Norfolk County has a number of these "Illustrious Sons," who have 
helped to shape the nation's destiny and add lustre to its history. Norfolk is 
the only county in the United States that can claim the distinction of being the 
birthplace of two presidents of the United States — John Adams and his son, John 
Quincy Adams. 

JOHN ADAMS 

John Adams was born in that part of Braintree now Quincy on October 19, 
1735, the eldest son of John and Susanna (Boylston) Adams. After suitable 
preparation he entered Harvard and graduated as a member of the class of 1755. 
His first intention was to study for the ministry, but not being in full sympathy 
with the orthodox views regarding election and reprobation, he decided upon the 
law as his profession. While preparing himself for the bar, he taught school at 
Worcester, and in 1758 was admitted to practice. In 1761 he heard James Otis 
deliver his famous address on "Writs of Assistance," of which he afterward said : 
"American independence was then and there born." Such an influence did this 
address have on Mr. Adams that when the tory government offered him the 
position of advocate-general in 1763, he declined the honor. In 1764 he married 
Abigail Smith, a granddaughter of Col. John Quincy, and about this time pub- 
lished his "Essay on Canon and Feudal Law." 

The passage of the Stamp Act in March, 1765, brought Mr. Adams promi- 
nently into politics for the first time. He drew up the petition in the Town 
of Braintree and procured the signatures of a number of the leading citizens, 
instructing their representatives in relation to the stamps. On December 18, 
1765, the Town of Boston employed him to appear with Gridley and Otis before 
the governor and council in support of his memorial. This introduced him to 
the people of Boston and in 1768 he opened a law office in that city. In the 

459 



460 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

trial of the British soldiers for the Boston Massacre in 1770, he was employed 
as counsel for the defense, which rendered him unpopular with certain people, 
but these soon learned that his patriotic sentiments had not been affected by such 
employment, and the same year he was elected as a member of the General Court. 
On June 17, 1774, he was chairman of the Faneuil Hall meeting called to protest 
against the Boston Port Bill, and he was one of the five delegates sent from 
Massachusetts to the Continental Congress which met at Philadelphia the follow- 
ing September. 

During the winter of 1774-75, under the pseudonym of "Novanglus," he pub- 
lished a series of essays on the rights of the colonists that attracted wide attention. 
He was the first to propose the name of George Washington as commander-in- 
chief of the American armies, and on June 7, 1776, he seconded Richard Henry 
Lee's motion in the Continental Congress "that these colonies are and of right 
ought to be independent states." Four days later he was appointed as one of 
the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson afterward 
declared Mr. Adams to be "the ablest advocate and champion of independence 
on the floor of the house." 

Mr. Adams was made chairman of the board of war in June, 1776; was 
commissioner to France in 1777; was a member of the Massachusetts Constitu- 
tional Convention in 1779 ; was appointed minister to England in 1788 ; was elected 
Vice President on the ticket with Washington and was inaugurated in 1789; was 
the federalist candidate for President in 1796 and was elected, but was defeated 
by Jefferson in 1800. He then retired from public life and died at Quincy on 
July 4, 1826, just fifty years after he signed the Declaration of Independence. 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 

On July 11, 1767, a son was born to John and Abigail Adams in the Town 
of Braintree. He was named John Quincy, after his father and maternal grand- 
father. When he was about ten years of age he accompanied his father to 
France and attended school in Paris. In 1787 he graduated at Harvard, after 
which he studied law with Theophilus Parsons, of Newburyport, and in 1790 
was admitted to the bar. The next year he published the "Boston Centinel," 
and under the name of "Publicola" wrote a number of articles to show the 
fallacies of French political reformers. Later he wrote several essays in support 
of the neutrality of the United States in the war between England and France. 
In 1794 President Washington appointed him minister to Holland, and in July, 
1797, he married Louisa C, daughter of Joshua Johnson, then the American 
consul at London. In February before his marriage, Washington wrote to John 
Adams: "I give it as my undivided opinion that your son is the most valuable 
public character we have abroad." 

In 1797 he was appointed minister to Berlin, from which post he was recalled 
in 1801. In March, 1803, he was elected to the United States senate as a fed- 
eralist. While in the senate he supported the Embargo Act, which caused him 
to lose standing with the federalist party and he became a democrat. He 
resigned his seat in the senate in March, 1808, because he was not in harmony 
with the administration, and in March, 1809, President Madison appointed him 
minister to Russia. While in that country he was offered the appointment of 




DOROTHY QUINCY HOUSE, QUINCY 




OLD ADAMS MANSION, QUIN( Y 

Occupied by two presidents of the United States and other distinguished members 

of the Adams family. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 461 

associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, but declined. In 1813 he 
was one of the commissioners to negotiate a treaty with Great Britain; was 
appointed minister to England in 1815; was selected for secretary of state by 
President James Monroe in 1817 and became a member of the cabinet; was 
elected President in 1824, and was a candidate for reelection in 1828, but was 
defeated by Andrew Jackson. 

- Mr. Adams reappeared in public life in 1830 as a member of Congress and 
represented his district in the lower house of the National Legislature for seven- 
teen years. On February 21, 1848, he was stricken with paralysis, while in his 
seat in Congress, and died on the 23d. During the latter part of his life he was 
known as "Old Man Eloquent." 

JOHN HANCOCK 

Almost every American school boy is familiar with the firm, bold signature of 
John Hancock in the fac simile copies of the Declaration of Independence. John 
Hancock was a native of Norfolk County. He was born on January 12, 1737, 
a son of John and Mary Hancock. His father was at that time pastor of the 
First Church in Braintree (now Quincy) and lived in a house where the Adams 
Academy was afterward built. In 1754 John graduated at Harvard and in 1769 
at Yale. It is said that he was "just an ordinary scholar." In 1776, three years 
before he received his degree from Yale College, he was elected to the Provincial 
Legislature. There he met James Otis, Samuel Adams and others of that class, 
and when the time came for a struggle with the mother country Mr. Hancock 
was well prepared to take an active part. He was chosen a delegate to the First 
Provincial Congress, which met at Concord, and was next elected to the Con- 
tinental Congress, of which he was the second president. When the British 
crown offered general amnesty to the "American rebels," Mr. Hancock and 
Samuel Adams were not included in the offer, for the reason that their work in 
behalf of independence had been more than usually effective. 

Mr. Hancock was the first governor of Massachusetts under the constitution 
of 1780, and held the office for five years. In 1787 he was again elected governor 
and remained in the office until his death at Quincy on October 8, 1793. 

PAUL REVERE 

Although not a native of the county, Paul Revere was for a number of 
years a resident and actively identified with Norfolk affairs. He was born in 
Boston on June 1, 1735, of French ancestry, the first of his family coming to 
America as the result of the Edict of Nantes. He took part in the French and 
Indian war and in 1774 was a member of the Suffolk Congress, which first met 
at the Doty Tavern, in what is now the Town of Canton. He carried a copy of 
the "Suffolk Resolves" on horseback to Philadelphia and presented it to the Con- 
tinental Congress. His midnight ride on the night of April 18, 1775, to warn the 
people of the movements of the British soldiery has been immortalized in Long- 
fellow's poem. 

Paul Revere's father was a goldsmith and brought his son up to that trade. 
He also became a skillful engraver on copper. It is said that the first powder 



462 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

mill in the colonies was established by him. In 1801 he located in Canton and 
laid the foundation of the Revere Copper Company, under the firm name of 
"Paul Revere & Son." Here he cast bells and cannon. His death occurred on 
May 10, 1818. 

FISHER AMES 

Fisher Ames, lawyer, statesman and patriot, was a son of Dr. Nathaniel 
Ames and was born in Dedham on April 9, 1758, in a house which stood on the 
lot now occupied by the registry building. In 1770, soon after he had passed his 
twelfth birthday anniversary, he entered Harvard College, where he graduated in 
1774. One of his biographers says: "He was too young during his college course 
to master the sciences then taught, but he was remarkably attentive to his studies 
and his mind was quick and accurate. He excelled in the classics and literary 
exercises. His declamations were remarkable for their energy and propriety, 
and he sometimes spoke an original theme and wrote some verses. He had a 
poetic imagination, which he showed in his prose writings afterward, but he never 
confessed to being a poet." 

After his graduation, on account of his youth and the outbreak of the Revo- 
lution, he did not begin his professional studies for several years, occupying his 
time in teaching school, though he participated in some military expeditions to 
places in Massachusetts and on the Rhode Island frontier. He studied law with 
William Tudor of Boston, and in 1781 was admitted to the bar. At the time of 
Shay's Rebellion, Mr. Ames wrote a number of essays upon the questions that 
then agitated the people of the state. These essays were published in the Inde- 
pendent Chronicle and brought him in touch with prominent public men, which 
marked the beginning of his public career. In 1788 he was a delegate to the con- 
vention for ratifying the Federal Constitution, and the same year was elected to 
the Legislature. His speeches in the convention and the Legislature, as well as 
his essays, led to his election to Congress from the Suffolk district, which office 
he held during the entire eight years of Washington's administration. 

In 1791 he began the practice of law in Boston and the next year married 
Frances, daughter of John Worthington, of Springfield. When Norfolk County 
was established in 1793, he returned to his native town and opened a law office 
in Dedham, on the corner of the meeting house common, not far from the "Pillar 
of Liberty." His health began to fail in 1795, and although he continued in prac- 
tice to some extent, the trial of ordinary cases became more and more irksome 
to him and he gradually withdrew, devoting his time to his farm and to politics. 
His fame as a lawyer is overshadowed by his eminence as a statesman and 
political writer. He was a federalist of the Jay and Hamilton type, and as a 
member of Congress during the formative period of the Government assisted 
in the enactment of laws the effects of which are still felt by the people of the 
United States. He died at Dedham on July 4, 1808. 

HORACE MANN 

Stretching away from the village of Franklin toward Wrentham is a tract 
of country known as "Mann's Plain." Here on May 4, 1796, was born Horace 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 463 

Mann, son of Thomas and Mary (Stanley) Mann, from whom the plain takes 
its name. In September, 1816, Horace entered the sophomore class of Brown 
University and graduated there in 1819. He then entered the law office of Josiah 
J. Fiske at Wrentham as a student. Before he had fully prepared himself for 
admission to the bar, Brown University offered him the position of tutor of 
Greek and Latin, which he accepted and remained with that institution for about 
two years. He then attended the law school at Litchfield, Connecticut, and com- 
pleted his legal studies with James Richardson at Dedham. In December, 1823, 
he was admitted to the bar, and in 1826 as an attorney before the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas. In 1827 he was admitted before the Supreme Judicial Court. In 
the latter year he was elected to represent Dedham in the General Court and 
continued to serve the town in that capacity until 1832. He also served as 
moderator of several town meetings and as a member of the school committee. 

On May 27, 1837, in accordance with a law passed by the General Court, 
Governor Everett appointed the eight members of the Board of Education, one 
of whom was Horace Mann, then president of the State Senate. On June 29th 
he was made secretary of the board, an office he held for eleven years. The 
death of John Quincy Adams on February 23, 1848, left a vacancy in Con- 
gress, to which Mr. Mann was elected on the 3d of April following. He served 
three terms in Congress and on September 15, 1852, was elected president of 
Antioch College, which had just been established at Yellow Springs, Ohio. He 
remained at the head of this institution until his death on August 2, 1859. 

Mr. Mann was twice married. On September 29, 1830, he married Miss 
Charlotte Messer, daughter of the president of Brown University. She died in 
August, 1832, and on May 1, 1843, he married Mary T. Peabody of Boston. 

WILLIAM T. ADAMS 

William Taylor Adams, better known to the American people as "Oliver 
Optic," was born in the Town of Medway on July 30, 1822. After acquiring a 
good education he taught for many years in the Boston public schools. Under 
the pseudonym of "Oliver Optic" he was a voluminous writer of juvenile fiction, 
his works numbering over one hundred volumes in all. These stories were pub- 
lished in series, among them being the "Army and Navy," "Boat Club," "Great 
Western," "Sailor Boy," "Starry Flag," "Lake Shore" and "Yacht Club" stories. 
His books are healthy in tone, dealing with athletic and out-door sports, calcu- 
lated to stimulate a liking for wholesome amusement, and all teach in greater or 
less degree the lessons of loyalty and patriotism. During the latter years of his 
life, Mr. Adams was a magazine editor. His death occurred on March 2^, 1897. 

ELEAZAR SMITH 

While not an "Illustrious Son" in the sense of being a great statesman, author 
or military commander, Eleazar Smith left his impress upon his native county 
through his inventions, some of which are still in use in manufacturing processes. 
He was born in Medfield in 1755, a grandson of that Samuel Smith who was 
left for dead by the Indians, while an infant, at the burning of the town in 
1676. Although his opportunity to acquire an education was limited, he was a 



464 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

great reader and had an excellent memory. He became well versed in astronomy 
and botany, and especially well informed in chemistry and mechanics. As a 
boy he gave proof of his inventive ability by constructing many ingenious con- 
trivances. At the age of fifteen years he made a watch "that would go and 
keep time," his only tools being a pocket knife, a three-cornered file and a pair 
of compasses. This watch he presented to Doctor Wight of Medway, who 
assisted him to procure better tools for repairing and making clocks. 

Mr. Smith's father was not in sympathy with his bent of mind and frequently 
charged him with "fooling away his time when he ought to be at work." While 
a soldier in the Continental army in the Revolution, he repaired a watch for one 
of the soldiers with his penknife. This came near getting him into trouble. 
Counterfeit coins were in circulation about the camp at Saratoga, and the inge- 
nuity he displayed in repairing the watch led some to assert that he was the 
author of the counterfeit money. His greatest invention in early life was a 
machine for making pins. He also constructed some useful machines for making 
straw braids and bonnets, an industry that was then just gaining a foothold in 
Norfolk County. Machines for making combs, tacks, nails, etc., were turned 
out from his workshop, but the greatest of all his inventions was the machine 
for setting card teeth, which revolutionized the manufacture of cotton and 
woolen goods. But, like other inventive geniuses, he was not of that turn of 
mind to realize wealth from his inventions, which were appropriated by designing 
persons, so that he died in 1836 comparatively poor. 

WILLIAM M. THAYER 

Another son of Norfolk County whose "fame has gone abroad over the land" 
was Rev. William Makepeace Thayer, of Franklin. He was educated for the 
ministry and was for years a forceful and successful preacher, but his greatest 
claim to fame is in his works as an author. It has been said of him that "he was 
a prolific writer, a master of terse, vigorous English, with a peculiar power of 
arresting attention and clinching his points." His best known works are the "Bob- 
bin Boy," "Poor Boy and Merchant Prince," "From Log Cabin to White House" 
and "From Tannery to White House," which in turn tell the story of Gen. Na- 
thaniel P. Banks, A. T. Stewart, Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. His 
"Marvels of Our New West," "Success and Its Achievers," "Tact, Push and 
Principle," have found their way into many libraries and homes, and some of 
his works have been translated into foreign languages. Mr. Thayer died in 
Franklin near the close of the Nineteenth Century. 

ALBERT D. RICHARDSON 

At the time of the War of 1861-65, Albert D. Richardson, a native of Frank- 
lin, was the celebrated war correspondent of the New York Tribune. He was 
captured and confined for about twenty months in Confederate prisons before 
he was able to effect his escape. Among his works are "The Secret Service," 
"The Field, the Dungeon and the Escape," "Four Years in Secessia," "Beyond 
the Mississippi" and "Our New States and Territories." Mr. Richardson edited 
Horace Greeley's "American Conflict,'' a "Personal History of Gen. U. S. 




STETSON HALL AND SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, RANDOLPH 







HO.MK OF MARY K. WILKIN'S FREEMAN, RANDOLPH 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 465 

Grant," and some other works of note. Some years after the close of the war 
he was shot in the Tribune office by a man named McFarlane and his remains 
were brought to Franklin for interment. His brother, the late Rev. Charles 
A. Richardson, also a native of Franklin, was for years the editor of the Con- 
gregationalism 

HANNAH ADAMS 

A story is told of a minister who, in making use of the term "mankind," 
explained that "Mankind is intended to embrace womankind." Applying that 
theory to Norfolk County, it may be well to include a few of the "Illustrious 
Daughters" along with the "Illustrious Sons." First of these is Hannah Adams, 
the historian, who was born in Medfield on October 2, 1755. She was in the 
fifth generation from Lieut. Henry Adams, one of the pioneers of the town, 
who was killed in the doorway of his house on the morning of February 21, 1636, 
when the Indians burned and sacked Medfield. Hannah's grandfather, Thomas 
Adams, inherited a part of the tract of land granted to his ancestor, and about 
171 5 built the house in which she was born. 

Hannah Adams was the first American woman whose literary ability was 
generally recognized. With a delicate constitution from her earliest childhood, 
she did not mingle with other children in the usual sports, and as a result grew 
excessively timid and averse to appearing in company. Deemed physically unable 
to attend school, she received her first teaching from her mother. After her 
mother's death in 1767, she read a great variety of books in her father's library. 
She was passionately fond of poetry, and when she grew older she earned a 
little income from teaching some young men, who were preparing for the min- 
istry, the elements of Greek and Latin. One of the young men had a book of 
extracts from "Broughton's Dictionary of Religions," and the perusal of this 
book shaped the after career of Hannah Adams. Dissatisfied with the lack of 
candor displayed on the part of some of the authors, she determined to make a 
compilation of her own, but with no thought of ever having it published. When 
it was completed a difficulty arose in finding some one to print it, unless 400 
subscriptions were obtained in advance. With great labor and the assistance 
of her father and friends, the required number was finally secured, and in 1784 
her "View of Religious Opinions" was published by B. Edes & Sons of Boston. 
Her "History of New England" was published in 1799; "Evidences of Chris- 
tianity," in 1801, and her "History of the Jews," in 1812. She was also the 
author of other works, chiefly on religious topics. The latter years of her life 
were spent in Brookline, where she died on December 15, 1832. 

MARY E. WILKINS FREEMAN 

Mary Eleanor Wilkins was born in the Town of Randolph in 1862. She was 
educated in the public schools of her native town and at Mount Holyoke Semi- 
nary, after which she was for several years secretary to Dr. Oliver Wendell 
Holmes. She first came into literary notice about 1886 through her short stories 
in magazines, by the faithful delineations of certain phases of New England life. 
In 1902 she was married to Dr. Charles M. Freeman, and after her marriage 

Vol. 1—30 



466 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

resided in New Jersey. Altogether, Mrs. Freeman wrote about thirty volumes 
of fiction, most of her works portraying New England life and character. Her 
best known novels are : "A Humble Romance," "A New England Nun," 
"Young Lucretia," "Doc Gordon," "Shoulders of Atlas," "The Green Door" 
and "People of Our Neighborhood." She has also written a large number of 
short stories which have been published in the leading magazines. 

A LITERARY GROUP 

James R. Gilmore, a native of Franklin, wrote "Among the Pines" and other 
stories of Southern life and character about the time of the Civil war, under 
the pseudonym of "Edmund Kirke." Mr. Gilmore was also the author of "The 
Rear-Guard of the Revolution," "John Sevier as a Commonwealth Builder," and 
some other historical works. 

Margaret W. Deland, a resident of Dedham, was born in Pittsburgh, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1857. She is the author of "The Old Garden and Other Poems," 
"John Ward, Preacher," "Philip and His Wife," "The Story of a Child," and 
some other stories that have been widely read. 

Frederic J. Stimson, a native of Dedham, was assistant attorney-general of 
Massachusetts in 1884-85. He is a member of numerous clubs and societies; the 
author of legal works and several volumes of fiction; and since 1914 has held 
the position of United States minister to the Argentine Republic. 

Louis A. Holman of Needham was born on Prince Edward's Island in 1866. 
He is the author of "Ten Scenes from the Life of Benjamin Franklin"; has 
served as art editor of the New England Magazine and the Youth's Companion ; 
has illustrated numerous stories in Scribner's and other magazines ; and is rec- 
ognized as an authority on Rembrandt and Keats. 

Ellen Douglas Deland, author of "Oakleigh," "Katrina," "Three Girls of 
Hazelmere" and others novels, is a native of New York, but is now a resident of 
Dedham. 

Agnes E. Rothery, one of the younger school of writers, was born in Brook- 
line in 1888; graduated at Wellesley College in 1909; made her first appearance 
in literature as the author of essays that attracted considerable attention ; is the 
author of "Our Common Road," "The House of Friendship," "The Romantic 
Shore" and some other works of fiction. 

Lewis C. Strang, of East Weymouth, is the author of several works relating 
to the theater, plays and players, etc. 



CHAPTER LII 
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY 

LOST TOWNS — DORCHESTER — ROXBURY — WEST ROXBURY — HYDE PARK — QUAKER 

PERSECUTIONS A FEW LANDMARKS THE FAIRBANKS HOUSE THE PEAKE 

HOUSE ADAMS HOUSES THE AVERY OAK INDIAN ROCK DEDHAM POWDER 

HOUSE OTHER LANDMARKS — DISTINGUISHED VISITORS — LAFAYETTE — JACKSON 

— LINCOLN — BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS. 

When the County of Norfolk was established in 1793 it embraced in addition 
to its present territory, the towns of Dorchester, Roxbury, West Roxbury and 
Hyde Park. One by one these towns have been annexed to the City of Boston 
and are treated in this chapter as the "Lost Towns" of Norfolk. 

DORCHESTER 

The Town of Dorchester was incorporated on September 7, 1630. On that 
date it was ordered by the General Court that "Trimountain shalbe called Boston, 
Mattapan Dorchester & the Towne upon Charles Ryver Waterton." From this 
it appears that the district included in Dorchester was before that time known as 
Mattapan. Nothing was said in the order about the boundaries of the towns 
named. In 1636 a grant of land was made to Dorchester, which "extended in a 
southwesterly direction to a line drawn from the summit of the Great Blue Hill 
to the old corner of Dedham and Roxbury." On the southeast the bounds of 
Dorchester were fixed the same year "by a line running from the sea from the 
mouth of Sachem's Brook, southerly of Squantum, to the summit of the Great 
Blue Hill." Out of this territory, south of the Neponset River, the Town of 
Milton was incorporated in 1662. 

In 1637 another large tract of land, called the "New Grant," was allotted to 
Dorchester. The western boundary of this grant was a straight line, running 
from a point near the Hyde Park railroad station to the "Angle Tree" on the 
southern boundary of the county a short distance east of the Rhode Island line. 
This line took in the eastern part of the present towns of Dedham, Norwood, 
Walpole and Wrentham, and the New Grant included also the present towns of 
Canton, Sharon, Foxboro, Stoughton and Avon. In 1738, after several previous 
acts had been passed relating to the subject, the Dedham bounds were extended to 
the Neponset River. In the meantime Stoughton had been set off from Dor- 
chester by the act of December 22, 1726, extending northward to the line of the 
old grant of 1636. Dorchester was annexed to Boston at different periods, the 
last of the town being taken from Norfolk County on January 3, 1870. 

467 



468 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

i 

ROXBURY 

Concerning the early settlers of Roxbury, Francis S. Drake says : "They were 
people of substance, many of them farmers, none being 'of the poorer sort.' They 
struck root in the soil immediately and were enterprising, industrious and frugal." 

The principal founder of the town was William Pynchon, who was one of the 
assistant magistrates that came over with Winthrop. The town was incorpo- 
rated on September 28, 1630, only three weeks after the incorporation of Dor- 
chester. Originally the name was spelled "Rocksbury," and Barber, in his His- 
torical Collections, says : "A great part of this town is rocky land ; hence the 
name of Rocks'bury." Joseph Warren, who fell at the battle of Bunker Hill, 
was born in Roxbury in 1740. Four days before his death he received a com- 
mission as major-general in the Continental army. William Heath, another major- 
general, was also a native of Roxbury. After the organization of Norfolk County 
he was appointed probate judge, which office he held until his death in 1814. By 
an act of the Legislature, approved on January 5, 1868, Roxbury was annexed to 
and became a part of the City of Boston. 

WEST ROXBURY 

The territory comprising West Roxbury was originally known as "Jamaica 
End and Spring Street." In 1712 it became the Second Parish of Roxbury. Dur- 
ing the next century several efforts were made to have the parish set off as a 
separate town, but all resulted in failure. In 1769 Jamaica Plain was organized 
as the Third Parish. In June, 1777, the Second and Third parishes joined in a 
petition to the General Court asking to be set off as a district to be called "Wash- 
ington," but the Court took no action upon the petition. Finally, through the 
exertions of Arthur W. Austin and other influential citizens, who employed 
Rufus Choate to present their claims to the General Court, an act was passed on 
May 24, 185 1, incorporating the Town of West Roxbury. The event was cele- 
brated on the evening of June 3, 185 1, by the firing of cannon, a display of fire- 
works, etc. 

West Roxbury was the second town to be incorporated in Norfolk County 
after the latter was organized in 1793, Canton having been established in 1797, 
four years after the erection of the county. The town remained a part of Nor- 
folk County until January 5, 1874, when the Legislature passed an act annexing 
it to the City of Boston. 

HYDE PARK 

The incorporation of Hyde Park as a separate town is due in a great measure 
to the Hyde Park Land Company, which was organized about 1850. During the 
next ten years a number of lots were sold in that part of the town known as 
Fairmount. After the war the new settlement experienced a "boom," no fewer 
than 106 dwelling houses being erected in the year 1867. On October 14, 1867, 
a meeting was held at Music Hall, at which the preliminary steps were taken to 
secure the incorporation of a new town. A committee was appointed to consider 
the matter and report to an adjourned meeting on the 23d. At the adjourned 




CANOE AX1) BOAT CLUBS. DEDHAM 




OLD FAIRBANKS HOUSE, DEDHAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 469 

meeting this committee reported in favor of presenting a petition to the General 
Court asking for the establishment of a separate town, with the bounds practi- 
cally as they were afterward fixed. 

As part of the proposed town was to be taken from Dedham, that town 
opposed the project. Dorchester made no opposition, but Milton objected to the 
taking of Brush Hill for the new town. The outcome of all this heated contro- 
versy was that the act of incorporation was approved on April 22, 1868, taking 
1,300 acres from Dorchester, 800 acres from Dedham, and 700 acres from Milton, 
leaving the residents along the old Brush Hill road still within the boundaries of 
Milton. The first town meeting was held on April 30, 1868, when Henry Grew, 
Zenas Allen, M. L. Whitcher, W. J. Stuart and B. F. Radford were chosen select- 
men ; C. W. Turner, clerk; Henry S. Adams, treasurer; Henry A. Rich, tax col- 
lector. Hyde Park remained a part of Norfolk County until annexed to Boston 
under the act of June 22, 191 1, which was to become effective when accepted by 
the town and city. Both accepted the provisions of the act on November 7, 191 1, 
at the general election. 

QUAKER PERSECUTIONS 

While the first settlers of Massachusetts left their native land because of relig- 
ious differences and persecutions and sought a place where they could worship 
God as they pleased, they were of that stern mold that was not willing to accord 
the same privilege to others. It may not be generally known that instances of 
Quaker persecution occurred in what is now Norfolk County, yet such was the 
case. A book entitled "New England Judged, by the Spirit of the Lord," was 
published by George Bishop in London in 1661, giving an account of the suffer- 
ings of the Quakers in their attempts to worship according to their views in 
Massachusetts. The book is divided into two parts, the first part "Containing a 
Brief Relation of the Sufferings of the People call'd Quakers in New-England 
from the Time of their first Arriv'l there in the Year 1656 to the Year 1660." 
The second part is a "Farther Relation of the Cruel and Bloody Sufferings of the 
People call'd Quakers in New-England Continued from anno 1660 to anno 1665." 
The following extracts are taken from an edition of this book published in London 
in 1703. 

In March, 1658, three of the inhabitants of Salem — John Small, John Burton 
and Josiah Southick, Quakers, started for Rhode Island to look for a new loca- 
tion. The book then describes how they came to "a place called Dedham in the 
way Thither about thirty Miles from Salem, the first Night. As they were going 
into the Ordinary to Lodge one of the Chief Men of that place Capt. Lusher by 
Name, was sent for who examined them about Religion with your ministers on 
purpose to ensnare them: which they perceiving and refusing to answer unto 
his Questions tho' they gave him an Account of their Journey : he told them that 
he would send them where they would Answer: and so the next Morning the 
Constable came with Aid and with a Halbert and Brazen Headed staff, conveyed 
them like Murtherers through the Street to Boston, where your Deputy Governour 
reviled them telling them that they should go to Prison : And to Prison they had 
gone had they not demanded to go before the Governour, who hearing the case 



470 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

set them free saying that they could not Hinder Men from Travelling on their 
Journies." 

Although set free, a fine of twelve shillings was levied upon them "to pay the 
Constable and his Men." It appears that Josiah Southick had the temerity to 
venture again into Boston, which resulted in the following order: 

"To the Constables of Boston — You are by Vertue of an Order of the Court 
of Assistants held at Boston the third Instant, required to repair with the Execu- 
tioner unto the Prison, and there Forthwith take the Person of Josiah Southick, 
a Banish'd Quaker: And the Executioner is to take him and to strip him from 
the Girdle upward and to tye him to a Cart-tail and whip him ten Stripes out of 
Boston, and deliver him to the Constable of Rocksbury who is also to Cause him 
to be tyed to the Cart's-tail, stripp'd as afore said, and to whip him through 
Rocksbury with ten Stripes, and then deliver him to the Constable of Dedham, 
who is also required to whip him at the Cart's-tail with ten Stripes as afore said, 
and so discharge him out of Our Jurisdiction. Make your several Returns on the 
back side of the Warrant to the Secretary forthwith. Dated at Boston the 9th 
of September, 1661. 

"By the Court. 

"Edward Rawson, Secretary." 

The order was executed and the victim was left "fifteen Miles from any 
Towne and twenty-six Miles from Boston and the Wilderness." The book further 
says: "The Whip us'd for those cruel Executions is not of Whip-cord as in 
England, but of dryed Guts, such as the Base of Viols and with three knots at 
the end, which many times the Hang-man layes on with both his Hands and must 
needs be of the most violent Torture and exercise to the Body." 

Elizabeth Hooton, an old woman, received ten lashes at Dedham on a cold 
frosty morning, after which "they put her on Horseback and carried her a weary 
Journey, many Miles into the Wilderness and towards Night left her there where 
many Wolves and Bears and Wild Beasts which used sometimes to set upon living 
Persons, and many deep Waters to pass through, there to purchase a House and 
Ground which might hold her Tabernackle or lodge her therein." 

Notwithstanding this severe treatment, Mrs. Hooton returned to Boston and 
again she was whipped out at the cart's tail through the towns of Roxbury, Ded- 
ham and Medfield, after which she was again sent into the wilderness, "where 
she had above Twenty Miles to go in the exceeding Cold." 

Other Quakers who were whipped, imprisoned or otherwise persecuted by 
the authorities were: Richard Dowdney, John Copeland, Christopher Holder, 
Joseph Nicholson, John Liddall, Jane Millard, Katharine Chatham, Ann Coleman 
and Thomas Newhouse. The last named seems to have been a preacher or mis- 
sionary of some sort, as he tells his story himself. He says : "Another time in 
my travels I came to a Town called Medfield in New England, in Boston's Juris- 
diction, and I could not get a Meeting: And it being the First Day of the Week, 
when the Priest had done and the People came forth into the Street where I was 
standing waiting upon the Lord, these words ran through me 'Oh, Earth, Earth, 
Earth, hear the Word of the Lord!' With some more words, but my Mouth 
was presently stopp's with a Man's Hand and several sore Blows I received 
amongst them: And after that they carried me back again to the Stocks, but 




RESIDENCE OF DAVENPORT BROWN, MEDFIELD 
Birthplace of Hannah Adams, IT.'jj, pioneer authoress of America. 




PEAKE EOUSE. MEDFIELD 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 471 

they standing by the Worship House, they would not let me sit in them there, 
but took them upon their Shoulders and carried them under a Hedge and put 
me in them two Hours, where I had good Service for the Lord, and the next 
day I was whipp'd at Dedham at the Cart's-tail with Ten Stripes, and the Follow- 
ing day at Medfield with ten Stripes more, and sent away into the Woods." 

A FEW LANDMARKS 

In every community there are certain objects that have a historic value, in that 
they connect the present with the past. Generally speaking, the older the settle- 
ment the greater the number of these landmarks, each of which tells a" story that 
it would be difficult to repeat in words. Below is given a description of a few 
of Norfolk County's landmarks of this character. 

The Fairbanks House — A short distance east of the railroad station in Ded- 
ham stands an old house, which for its picturesqueness and antique furniture is 
an object of interest to visitors. The land upon which it stands was allotted to 
Jonathan Fairbanks in 1637, and there is a tradition that the house was built 
about that time. It was probably not built until twenty-five or thirty years after 
that date, but is doubtless the oldest house in Norfolk County today. The small 
wing on the side next to East Street was added about 1777. Other additions 
have been made from time to time, but the main portion of the structure remains 
just as it was built by Jonathan Fairbanks. The house contains many relics of 
the family who have lived there for eight generations. It has never been deeded. 
It was built by a Fairbanks and his descendants have always owned and occu- 
pied it. 

The Peake House — The visitor who makes the trip from Dedham to Medfield 
on the electric line will notice on the right of the road, just before coming to the 
main village of Medfield, an old house much weather-beaten, with an unusually 
steep roof. It was built by one of the pioneers of Medfield and is thus described 
by Barber in his Historical Collections of Massachusetts : "This house was stand- 
ing at the time when the principal part of the town was burnt by the Indians in 
1676. It is probably the only house of the kind now standing in this country. 
It is an interesting relic of antiquity, showing the manner in which most of the 
houses of the first settlers were built. This house is 24 feet in length, 14^2 feet 
in breadth, 10 feet from the ground to the eaves of the roof, about 12 feet from 
the eaves to the top of the roof. There are three divisions on the ground floor, 
consisting of one principal room, and entry and a pantry ; on the second floor are 
two chambers, above which is a narrow garret. It was formerly used as a 
weaver's shop." 

Adams Houses, at Quincy — Near the foot of Penn's Hill, in Quincy, are two 
houses, very much alike in appearance, the birthplaces of two presidents of the 
United States. The one on the right in the picture is the house in which John 
Adams was born on October 19, 1735, and the other is where John Quincy Adams 
was born on July 11, 1767. From 1800 to 1804 the latter was occupied by Rev. 
Peter Whitney, pastor of the First Parish Church, while Mr. Adams was abroad 
as minister to Berlin or in Washington as United States senator. The two houses 
are well preserved, considering their great age, and are objects of interest to the 
student of history. 



472 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Avery Oak — Among the early settlers of Dedham was Dr. William Avery, 
who built his house on what is now East Street, near a large white oak tree, which 
has become known in the annals of the town and county as the "Avery Oak." 
It is this tree that is represented upon the town seal of Dedham. In an address 
before the Dedham Historical Society on October 3, 1897, Erastus Worthington 
said : "That the Avery oak is much older than the settlement of the town can 
hardly be doubted. There is in the possession of the writer, a sketch of the tree 
made probably about 1825 by our late townsman, Alvan Fisher. On it is written 
this memorandum in pencil. '19^2 feet in circumference — 102 years since the top 
was cut off for firewood by the grandfather of Deacon Avery.' " 

Mann's Annals of Dedham (p. 125) says that seventy dollars were offered 
by the builders of the United States frigate Constitution, but the offer was 
rejected by the owner. By a deed of conveyance dated June 29, 1886, the oak 
was given by Joseph W. Clark to the Dedham Historical Society, on the condi- 
tion that it should be carefully preserved in the years to follow. The Avery house 
was torn down the year before this deed was executed. 

Indian Rock — A short distance south of the A ; illage of Franklin, on the road 
to Wrentham, a giant rock rears its head above the surrounding tree-tops. It is 
known as "Indian Rock," now a historic spot in Franklin. At the base of this 
rock occurred the fight between Capt. Robert Ware's company and a party of 
Indians at the time of King Philip's war. An account of the action is given in 
the chapter on Indian History. Traditions of this battle are still cherished by 
old inhabitants of Franklin, and the rock is pointed out as one of the historic 
landmarks of the county. 

Dedham Powder House — On March 1, 1762, "It was put to the Town to see 
if the Town will build a Powder House. Voted in the affirmative and then the 
Town voted to refer the further consideration of said Powder House to next 
May meeting." Such is the entry in the records of a town meeting on the date 
noted. At .the May meeting it was voted "to have the Powder House builded on 
a great Rock in Aaron Fuller's land Near Charles River." The work of building 
it was referred to a committee, but that committee failed to perform its assigned 
duty. In May, 1765, the matter was again taken up, and it was decided to erect 
a building "Eight Feet Square on the outside and Six Feet high under the Plates, 
the Materials to be Brick and Lime Mortar." The house was completed in the 
latter part of 1766 or early in 1767. At the time of the celebration of Dedham's 
250th anniversary in 1886, the building was repaired and in the eastern wall was 
inserted a tablet of bronze bearing the inscription : "The Powder House, Built 
by the Town, 1766." 

Other objects that might properly be classed as landmarks are: The Angle 
Tree Monument, on the southern border of Plainville ; the Paul Revere House, 
in Canton ; the Dorothy Quincy House and the old Adams Mansion, in Quincy ; 
the Medway Elm, a large tree of that variety bearing an inscription relating to 
early days in the town ; "House Rock," in East Weymouth, the largest bowlder 
in New England ; the old stone pound, in Westwood ; and various old buildings, 
public and private, in several of the towns. 

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS 

Xo attempt is intended to describe the visits of all the distinguished persons 
who have been in Norfolk County since its establishment in 1793, but there are a 




THE AVERY OAK. THE OLDEST TKKK IX DKDIIAM 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 473 

few who stand out in bold relief and deserve more than passing mention. First 
in order is General Lafayette, who passed the night of August 23, 1824, in the 
county. The following account of his visit is taken from Mann's Annals of 
Dedham : 

"General Lafayette arrived here at half past ten o'clock in the evening, and 
stopped at Alden's Hotel. The loud and repeated cheerings from the assembled 
citizens, who had continued to collect through the day in expectation of his arrival, 
the salute of the artillery, the ringing of bells, and the brilliant illumination of 
the houses in the village, gave some faint evidence of the satisfaction experienced 
by all on the arrival among us of this distinguished Revolutionary Chief — this 
friend of America in her time of need, and of Liberty throughout the world. 
He tarried here but one hour, during which time hundreds of ladies and gentlemen 
had the gratification of shaking hands with the General ; and had he tarried until 
morning, the time would have been too short to gratify all who aspired to that 
honor. General Lafayette is a remarkably tall, majestic looking man, about sixty- 
eight years of age, and was dressed in plain citizens' dress. He was accompanied 
by his son and one or two other French gentlemen of his household. At half past 
eleven he entered his carriage and was again greeted with the three times three 
cheers of the citizens, and escorted by a cavalcade of about one hundred horse- 
men to the seat of Governor Eustis in Roxbury, where he spent the night." (Rox- 
bury was at that time a part of Norfolk County.) 

The following day many of the people of Norfolk County went to Boston to 
witness the reception of Lafayette as the "Nation's Guest" in that city. From 
the residence of Governor Eustis he was escorted to the city line by some two 
thousand horsemen. There he was received by the mayor and other city officials 
and escorted through the streets by the military companies of Boston and the 
adjacent towns. At the state house he was formally received by the state authori- 
ties, after which a public dinner was served at the Exchange. Many men were 
then living who remembered Lafayette's former visit to America, when he periled 
his life and fortune to aid the colonists in their struggle for independence. He 
remained in this country until the following summer, and on June 17, 1825, 
assisted at the laying of the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monument. 

On Friday, June 21, 1833, President Andrew Jackson, accompanied by Vice 
President Martin Van Buren ; Gen. Lewis Cass, secretary of war ; Governor 
Woodbury, secretary of the navy ; Governor Marcy, of New York, and other 
prominent gentlemen, passed through Norfolk County on their way from Provi- 
dence to Boston. The party arrived at Dedham about noon and was received by 
a committee, of which James Richardson was chairman. Mr. Richardson wel- 
comed the President with a brief address, and which was responded to by Gen- 
eral Tackson. The further account of the President's visit is taken from the 
Dedham Patriot of June 27, 1833, which says: 

"The President was then conducted on foot by the committee through the 
throng of spectators, who were ranged in two lines nearly the whole length of 
Court Street, bowing gracefully to the people on either side as he passed, to the 
open space in front of the meeting house, where the First Regiment commanded 
by Colonel Eaton was paraded. After receiving the salute of the military and 
reviewing them, he, together with his suite, were conducted to the Norfolk Hotel, 
where they dined. At one o'clock he took his seat in an open barouche, together 



474 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

with the Vice President and the two aids of Governor Lincoln, and departed on 
his journey to Boston amid the cheers of the assembled multitude." 

Abraham Lincoln, then a member of Congress from Illinois, came to Massa- 
chusetts in 1848 to make some speeches in the interest of Taylor and Fillmore, the 
whig candidates for President and Vice President. On the afternoon of Wed- 
nesday, September 20, 1848, he spoke in Temperance Hall (the old court-house) 
at Dedham, following the convention which renominated Horace Mann for Con- 
gress. He was escorted from Boston by a number of citizens of that city, among 
whom was George H. Monroe, a well known newspaper man of that day, who 
afterward wrote the following account of the speech : 

"When the party arrived at the little hall, late in the afternoon, it was found 
to be but half full, and with an apparently stupid and morose speaker it was 
thought the jug was up. But the moment Mr. Lincoln began to speak there was 
a change. He was no longer indifferent, but started off with fine effect. Pretty 
soon he turned up the sleeves of his black alpaca sack coat, then he turned up 
the cuffs of his shirt, and by and by he loosened his necktie, and wound up by 
taking it off altogether, the enthusiasm of his rural listeners rising steadily as 
the transformation progressed. The speaker bubbled over with humor, told funny 
stories of western life to illustrate points in his argument, and talked to his audi- 
tors in the most familiar and off-hand way imaginable. Suddenly, after he had 
been talking half an hour, a locomotive bell on a train about to start for Boston 
was heard. Lincoln stopped and said he had to speak in Cambridge in the eve- 
ning and must run for the train. Cries of 'No! No! Don't stop!' etc., came from 
all over the hall, and one man promised to hitch up his nag and take the speaker 
to Cambridge later, but Lincoln said T have kept my word with you and I must 
do the same by the Cambridge people ; I can't afford to take any chances,' and he 
went, attended by every evidence of genuine regret on the part of the Dedhamites." 

That was ten years before Mr. Lincoln's debates with Stephen A. Douglas 
brought him into national prominence, and twelve years before he was elected 
President. He was practically unknown in the East in 1848, and it may be inter- 
esting to the reader to know how he was regarded by the opposition. His meet- 
ing at Temperance Hall is thus described by the Norfolk Democrat: "From 
twelve to twenty of our citizens went to the depot to meet the delegations from 
Roxbury and Dorchester Taylor clubs and the Hon. Western member of Con- 
gress. A procession was formed of about 100 and marched through the streets 
accompanied by the Dorchester Band of musicians. When opposite the Phoenix 
House nineteen individuals mustered courage enough to tell the procession that 
they could hurrah three times. We believe the procession was not interrupted by 
cheers again till they arrived at the hall. 

"Mr. Lincoln was received with a good deal of applause by about a fifth of 
the audience, who appeared to do all the applause. The speaker was limited as 
to time and did not recite all his speech. . . . We did not hear him through, 
but presume he gave great satisfaction to the Taylorites present. He was escorted 
to the depot by the Dedham Whig Club and a band of music, and after he had 
left 51 men and boys marched back again to the hall." 

The Roxbury Gazette, another opposition paper, gives this account : "The 
Hon. Abraham Lincoln of Illinois came out in the cars at half past three P. M. 
with fifty-one persons, who, we presume from the posters, were drummed up 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 475 

for a demonstration. The procession, escorted by the Dedham Taylor Club, 
composed of from twelve to fifteen persons, was indeed a melancholy display. 
But it will appear brilliantly enough in the Atlas. (The Boston Atlas was a whig 
paper.) That is past hurt. We have no doubt that both conventions were satis- 
factory to the parties interested. We only regret that they cannot be repeated 
in every town in this county and district previous to the election." 

To the credit of these newspapers, who thus "poked fun" at Mr. Lincoln in 
1848, it can be said that thirteen years later, when the nation was in the throes of 
Civil war, they gave his administration loyal support in behalf of the Union. 

BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS 

Few counties in the country are better provided with benevolent and charitable 
institutions than Norfolk. There are three state institutions of this nature located 
within the limits of the county, viz : The Medfield Asylum for the Insane, which 
was opened for the reception of patients by the governor's proclamation on May 
1, 1896, and the Insane Asylum at Foxboro. The state also has a hospital school 
at Canton. 

Almost every town has its farm or home for the unfortunate poor. These 
institutions are maintained at the expense of the town, those of the inmates who 
are able to work being given employment about the farm or home. Thousands 
of dollars have been expended by the towns in the establishment and support of 
these homes for the poor. 

In May, 1852, the "Sailors' Snug Harbor," a home for invalid or disabled 
seamen, was established in Quincy, and the National Sailors' Home was opened 
in the same town on March 14, 1865, for the benefit of sailors and marines who 
fought on the side of the Union in the Civil war. 

About 1863 an institution known as the "Temporary Asylum for Discharged 
Female Prisoners" was established at Dedham, through the efforts of Miss 
Hannah B. Chickering. The object of the home is to care for women after their 
discharge from any reformatory institution, and for girls and women placed on 
probation by the courts. While in the institution they are taught sewing, laundry 
work, house work, etc., and every effort made to elevate their moral tone. 

In the way of general hospitals, all the populous towns are well supplied. 
Brookline has six such institutions, to wit: The Board of Health Hospital, the 
Corey Hill, the Summit, the Infants', the Free Hospital for Women, and the 
House of the Good Samaritan. Simpson Hospital is conducted in connection with 
Wellesley College, and at Norwood the Civic Association Hospital is one of the 
best equipped in the eastern part of Massachusetts. The Quincy City Hospital 
was established some years ago and in the spring of 191 7, after war with Ger- 
many was declared, steps were taken to equip 100 beds in this institution for use 
as an emergency military hospital. The Nurses' Association of Dedham has 
accumulated a fund of some twenty thousand dollars for the establishment of a 
general hospital in that town. The Milton Hospital and Convalescent Home 
offers the pure, wholesome atmosphere of the Blue Hill region to persons recover- 
ing from illness, accompanied by medical treatment at the hands of skilled physi- 
cians and surgeons, and the Glover Home and Hospital of Needham is conducted 
along modern lines. 



CHAPTER LIII 
STATISTICAL REVIEW 

CENSUS REPORTS SINCE I79O COMPARATIVE TABLE OF POPULATION BY TOWNS FOR 

I9IO AND I915 — OFFICIAL ROSTER LIST OF PRINCIPAL COUNTY OFFICERS FROM 

1793 TO I917 — CLERKS SHERIFFS TREASURERS — REGISTERS OF DEEDS 

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 

Norfolk County was created by an act of the General Court on March 26, 
1793, and was organized the following June. In June, 19 17, the county was there- 
fore 124 years old. The following table shows the growth in population from 
the time the county was organized to the last official census. The first United 
States census was taken in 1790, three years before Norfolk County was called 
into existence, but the population for that year has been easily ascertained by 
taking the figures for the Suffolk County towns that were afterward set off to 
form the County of Norfolk. 

1790 2 3>878 

1800 27,216 

1810 3 I » 2 4S 

1820 3&A7 1 

1830 4i,972 

1840 53,140 

1850 78,892 

i860 109,950 

1870 89,443 

1880 96,462 

1890 1 18,950 

1900 i5i,539 

1910 171,999 

1915 (State census) 201,907 

From this table it will be seen that there has been a steady increase in the num- 
ber of inhabitants in each census period, except in the decade from i860 to 1870. 
The decrease in that period was caused by the annexation to Boston of the Town 
of Roxbury on January 5, 1868, and the Town of Dorchester on January 3, 1870, 
the population of those towns having formerly been enumerated in Norfolk 
County, where they belonged. The increase between 1870 and 1880 was checked 
to some extent by the annexation of West Roxbury to Boston on January 5. 1874. 

In the following table is given the population of the several towns of the 

476 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 477 

county according to the United States census for 1910 and the state census for 
I9I5- 

Towns iqio 1915 

Avon 2,013 2,164 

Bellingham 1,696 1,953 

Braintree 8,066 9.343 

Brookline 27,792 33,490 

Canton 4,797 5,623 

Cohasset 2,585 2,800 

Dedham 9,284 1 1 ,043 

Dover 798 999 

Foxboro 3,863 3,755 

Franklin 5,641 6,440 

Holbrook 2,816 2,948 

Medfield 3,466 3,648 

Medway 2,696 2,846 

Millis !,399 i>44 2 

Milton 7,924 8,600 

Needham 5,026 6,542 

Norfolk 960 1,268 

Norwood 8,014 IQ ,977 

Plainville 1,385 1,408 

Quincy 32,642 40,674 

Randolph 4,301 4,734 

Sharon 2,310 2,468 

Stoughton 6,316 6,982 

Walpole 4,892 5,490 

Wellesley 5,4*3 6,439 

West wood 1,266 1,448 

Weymouth 12,895 J 3,969 

Wrentham J ,743 2,414 

Total 171,999 201,907 

In a number of the published tables of the census for 1910, the total popula- 
tion of the county is given as 187,506, but there was evidently an error in footing 
the column, as any one can verify by adding the figures above. Between the 
years 1910 and 1915 the Town of Foxboro is the only one in the county that 
shows a decrease, the population in 1910 being 108 more than in 1915. All the 
other towns in the county show an increase, and the loss in Foxboro is so slight 
that it may have been due to errors in taking the enumeration. 

OFFICIAL ROSTER 

Following is a list of the principal county officers from the time Norfolk County 
was established in 1793 to the beginning of the year 1917, with the year in which 
each was elected or entered upon the duties of his office: (Some of the early 
officers were appointed by the governor of the state.) 



478 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

Clerks of Courts — Nathaniel Ames, 1793; John Lathrop, Jr., 1797; Horatio 
Townsend, 1799; John S. Williams, 181 1 ; Horatio Townsend, 1812; Jairus Ware, 
1826; Ezra W. Sampson, 1836; Erastus Worthington, 1866; Louis A. Cook, 
since January 1, 1897. Dr. Nathaniel Ames, the first clerk, was also an asso- 
ciate justice of the Court of Common Pleas. 

Sheriffs — Ebenezer Thayer, 1793; Atherton Thayer, 1794; Benjamin C. Cut- 
ler, 1798; Elijah Crane, 1810; William Brewer, 181 1; Elijah Crane, 1812; John 
Baker, 1834; Jerauld N. E. Mann, 1843 ! Thomas Adams, 1848; John W. Thomas, 
1852; Thomas Adams, 1853; John W. Thomas, 1857; Rufus C. Wood, 1878; 
Augustus B. Endicott, 1885; Samuel H. Capen, since 1899. 

Treasurers — Isaac Bullard, 1793; John Bullard (son of Isaac), 1808; George 
Ellis, 1852; Chauncey C. Churchill, 1855; Charles H. Smith, 1889; Henry D. 
Humphrey, 1907. Chauncey C. Churchill died in office on April 18, 1889, and 
Charles H. Smith, of Dover, was appointed to serve until the next election. Mr. 
Smith was elected at each succeeding election until succeeded by the present 
treasurer, Henry D. Humphrey in 1907. 

Registers of Deeds — Eliphalet Pond, 1793; James Foord, 1813 ; Enos Foord, 
1821 ; James Foord (2nd), 1861 ; John H. Burdakin, 1873; Edward L. Burdakin, 
1916; Walter W. Chambers, 1917. Four registers of deeds died while in office. 
James Foord died on October 15, 1821. His successor, Enos Foord, held the 
office for nearly forty years, his death occurring on April 22, 1861. John H. 
Burdakin died in October, 1916, and his brother, Edward L. Burdakin, was 
appointed to the vacancy. He died on June 12, 1917, when the present incumbent, 
Walter W. Chambers, was appointed. 

County Commissioners — By the act of February 26, 1828, the Court of Gen- 
eral Sessions of the Peace was abolished and the governor was authorized to 
appoint four commissioners in each county to perform the functions formerly 
exercised by the Court of Sessions. On April 14, 1828, Gov. Levi Lincoln 
appointed as commissioners in Norfolk County Samuel P. Loud, William Ellis, 
Nathaniel Tucker and Louis Fisher. 

These commissioners held office until after the passage of the act of April 8, 
1835, which authorized the people to elect three county commissioners. Samuel 
P. Loud, Seth Mann and Joseph Hawes were elected in Norfolk County. The 
first meeting of this board was held on May 22, 1835. It seems that the people 
were somewhat lax in the performance of their duty in the matter of electing 
commissioners, as on March 17, 1841, an act of the Legislature went into effect 
authorizing the governor to fill vacancies, in case of failure to elect, from the 
candidates receiving the highest number of votes. No change was made in the 
board in Norfolk County from 1835 to 1844, when James C. Doane was elected 
to succeed Seth Mann. In 1847 Nathan Jones succeeded Joseph Hawes, and in 
1853 Nathaniel F. Safford succeeded Samuel P. Loud. 

By the act of November 11, 1854, the people were to elect one commissioner 
annually, to serve for three years. Under this law a change was made in the 
board each year, except in case of reelections. Since that time the board of 
commissioners for each year is given in the following list, except in those years 
where no change was made. In such cases the number of years served by the 
same members of the board is indicated: 

1 854-55 — James C. Doane, Nathaniel F. Safford and Bradford S. Farrington. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 479 

1856 — Nathaniel F. Safford, Bradford S. Farrington and Seth Mann. 

1857-58 — Seth Mann, Nathaniel F. Safford and Lucas Pond. 

1859-62 — Nathaniel F. Safford, Lucas Pond and Charles Endicott. 

1863-64 — Charles Endicott, Nathaniel F. Safford and Milton M. Fisher. 

1865-66 — Milton M. Fisher, Nathaniel F. Safford and David H. Bates. 

1867-70 — David H. Bates, Milton M. Fisher and Joseph M. Churchill. 

1871 — David H. Bates, Milton M. Fisher and Galen Orr. Mr. Orr came on 
the board in April, when Joseph M. Churchill was appointed associate justice of 
the Municipal Court of the City of Boston. 

1872-73 — Nathaniel F. Safford, David H. Bates and Galen Orr. 

1874-77 — Galen Orr, Nathanel F. Safford and James Humphrey. 

1878-79 — James Humphrey, Galen Orr and George W. Wiggin. 

1880-82 — George W. Wiggin, Jabez Talbot, Jr., and James Humphrey. 

1883-88— George W. Wiggin, John O. A. Field and Jabez Talbot, Jr. 

1889 — Melville P. Morrell, George W. Wiggin and Jabez Talbot, Jr. 

1890-92 — George W. Wiggin, Melville P. Morrell and John Q. A. Lothrop. 

1893 — Melville P. Morrell, John Q. A. Lothrop and Thomas Blanchard. 

1894-96 — Melville P. Morrell, Thomas Blanchard and Watts H. Bowker. 

1897 — Thomas Blanchard, Edwin D. Wadsworth and Melville P. Morrell. 

1898-1901 — Thomas Blanchard, James Hewins and Edwin D. Wadsworth. 

1902-04 — James Hewins, Thomas Blanchard and Marshall P. Wright. 

1905-06 — Marshall P. Wright, James Hewins and Sumner H. Foster. 

1907 — Sumner H. Foster, John F. Merrill and Evan F. Richardson. 

1908-12 — John F. Merrill, Evan F. Richardson and Silas A. Stone. 

1913-17 — John F. Merrill, Evan F. Richardson and Everett M. Bowker. 



CHAPTER LIV 

CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY 

The history of every country is made up of a series of events, each one of 
which is dependent upon and the sequence of those that preceded it. As a fitting 
conclusion to this History of Norfolk County the following summary of events 
leading up to the county's settlement and organization, as well as many events that 
have occurred since its establishment, has been compiled for the ready reference 
of the reader. At first glance it may appear that some of the events have only 
a remote or indirect connection with the county's history. And while this may 
be true, to some extent, each one is a link in the chain, the first link of which 
was forged when Christopher Columbus discovered America. Without any one 
of these links the chain might have been differently forged and this history would 
have been differently written. 

THE SUMMARY 

October 12, 1492. Columbus first sighted the land of the Western Hemis- 
phere. 

March 5, 1496. Henry VII of England granted a patent of discovery and 
trade to John Cabot and his sons. This patent afterward became the basis of 
English claims to territory in the New World. 

June 24, 1497. John Cabot and his son Sebastian landed near the mouth of the 
St. Lawrence and explored the coast from there southward. 

February 3, 1498. A new patent was issued to the Cabots. 

May 15, 1602. Bartholomew Gosnold discovered Cape Cod. He and his 
men were doubtless the first white men to set foot on Massachusetts soil. 

April 10, 1603. Martin Pring and Williame Browne left Bristol, England, 
with two ships for New England. 

April, 1603. James I became King of England. 

, 1603. Henry IV, King of France, granted the land from the fortieth 

to the forty-sixth parallels of north latitude to De Monts, who attempted to estab- 
lish a settlement at Mount Desert. 

March 31, 1605. The Archangel, Capt. George Weymouth, left Dartmouth, 
England, for America and reached Cape Cod about the middle of May. 

April 10, 1606. First patents issued to the London and Plymouth companies, 
giving authority to establish settlements in America. 

May 31, 1607. The Plymouth Company sent two ships and about one hundred 
men to open a plantation in New England. 

480 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 481 

March, 1614. Capt. John Smith sailed from London and during the follow- 
ing summer explored the coast of Massachusetts. 

, 1619. It is believed by some writers that in this year Capt. Thomas 

Dermer visited the harbors of Boston and Plymouth. 

July 3, 1620. Sir Thomas Coventry ordered to prepare a patent for the 
Plymouth Company. This patent passed the seals on November 3, 1620, and is 
known as the "Great Patent for New England." 

July 22, 1620. The Speedwell left Delft, Holland, for Southampton, England. 

September 6, 1620. The Mayflower sailed out of Plymouth Harbor, carrying 
101 passengers, bound for America. 

November 9, 1620. The Mayflower sighted the cliffs of Cape Cod. About 
this time Peregrine White was born on board the Mayflower — the first white child 
claiming New England as his birthplace. 

December 21, 1620. The pilgrims landed at Plymouth. The same day Rich- 
ard Butteridge died — the first death in New England. 

December 30, 1O20. The storehouse at Plymouth completed. 

January 14, 1621. The storehouse at Plymouth destroyed by fire. 

July, 1622. A grant of land made to Thomas Weston, who sent a company to 
found a colony. The company landed at Wessagusset (now Weymouth) and 
began the first settlement in what is now Norfolk County. It was short-lived. 

December, 1622. Robert Gorges received a grant of land covering "ten miles 
of seacoast and extending thirty miles inland." 

September, 1623. A company brought over by Robert Gorges settled at the 
place where the Weston Company had attempted to open a plantation the year 
before. This was the second permanent settlement in Massachusetts. 

March 19, 1628. A patent was granted to the Massachusetts Company embrac- 
ing the land between the Merrimac and Charles rivers. 

August 28, 1629. The charter of the Massachusetts Company was transferred 
to America. 

April 10, 1634. News received in Boston that the Massachusetts charter had 
been recalled and a governor-general appointed to administer the affairs of the 
colony. 

September 2, 1635. The Gorges settlement at Wessagusset incorporated as a 
plantation under the name of Weymouth. 

September 3, 1635. The General Court ordered a plantation to be settled two 
miles above the falls of the Charles River. 

August, 1636. Beginning of the Pequot war. 

September 8, 1636. The plantation on the Charles River incorporated as the 
Town of Dedham. 

March, 1639. The first printing press in Massachusetts was brought to Cam- 
bridge by Stephen Daye. 

March 28, 1639. The Town of Dedham ordered the construction of "Mother 
Brook" — the first canal in America. 

May 13, 1640. The Town of Braintree was incorporated. 

May 10. 1643. Massachusetts was divided into four counties — Essex, Middle- 
sex, Norfolk and Suffolk. (The Norfolk County then established was not the 
present county bearing that name.) 



482 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

, 1643. John Winthrop brought over material and workmen for the 



establishment of an iron works. 

June 15, 1648. Margaret Jones executed at Charlestown. This was the first 
trial and execution for witchcraft in Massachusetts. 

May 22, 1650. The Town of Medfield was established. 

October 4, 1656. The General Court imposed a penalty of £100 upon any 
ship captain bringing Quakers into Massachusetts. 

May 7, 1662. The Town of Milton was incorporated. 

, 1667. The first sheep were brought to Dedham. 

October 15, 1673. Town of YYrentham was incorporated. 

June 24, 1675. Indians attack the Town of Swanzey. This was the beginning 
of King Philip's war. 

February 21, 1676. Medfield surprised and burned by the Indians. 

July 25, 1676. Pumoham, sachem of Shaomet (now Warwick, Rhode Island), 
killed in the woods near Dedham. 

August 12, 1676. King Philip killed in a swamp near Mount Hope and his 
son sold into slavery — end of King Philip's war. 

April 14, 1680. William Nahaton and his brothers and sisters, Indians, deeded 
to the white men a tract of land by the Great Falls of the Charles River. 

April 18, 1681. John and Sara Magus deeded a tract of land lying between 
Watertown and Natick to the white men. 

April 18, 1685. Charles Josias (Wampetuck) a grandson of the old chief, 
Chickatabot, executed a deed confirming the grant of his grandfather. 

, 1693. The first postoffice in America was established at Boston. 

April 24, 1704. First issue of the Boston News Letter — the first newspaper in 
the British colonies in America. It ran for seventy-two years. The New York 
Historical Society has the only complete file. 

November 13, 1705. The Town of Brookline was incorporated. 

November 5, 171 1. The Town of Needham was incorporated. 

October 24, 171 3. The Town of Medway was incorporated. 

November 27, 17 19. The Town of Bellingham incorporated. 

June 27, 1 72 1. First vaccination in America by Dr. Zabdiel Boylston of 
Brookline upon his son and two negro servants. 

December 10, 1724. The Town of Walpole set off from Dedham and incor- 
porated. 

December 22, 1726. The Town of Stoughton was incorporated. 

September 13, 1728. The General Court passed the act incorporating the first 
paper mill in America. It was located in the Town of Milton. 

March 18, 1762. A Dedham town meeting chose a committee to build a 
powder house "on a great rock in Aaron Fuller's field near the Charles River." 

March 22, 1765. The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament. 

March 18, 1766. The Stamp Act was repealed. The news reached Boston 
on the 1 6th of May. 

July 22, 1766. The "Pillar of Liberty" erected at Dedham by the Sons of 
Liberty to celebrate the repeal of the Stamp Act. 

April 26, 1770. The Town of Cohasset was incorporated. 

December 16, 1773. The "Boston Tea Party" — 340 chests of tea emptied 
into the harbor at Griffin's Wharf. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 483 

March 7, 1774. The Boston Port Bill was passed by the British Parliament. 

August 16, 1774. First meeting of the Suffolk Congress at Doty's Tavern, in 
what is now the Town of Canton. 

September 6, 1774. Second meeting of the Congress at Richard Woodward's 
Tavern in Dedham. 

September 9, 1774. The "Suffolk Resolves" were adopted at a meeting held 
at the house of Daniel Yose in Milton. 

April 19, 1775. Battle of Lexington — beginning of the Revolutionary war. 

June 15, 1775. George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of the 
colonial forces. 

June 17, 1775. Battle of Bunker Hill, in which Norfolk County men were 
engaged. 

November, 1775. Dedham was made the shire town of Suffolk County, 
because Boston was then occupied by British soldiers. 

March 4, 1776. Dorchester Heights occupied and works thrown up during 
the night by American troops. 

March 17, 1776. Boston evacuated by the British. 

March 20, 1776. The American army enters Boston amid great rejoicing 
of the citizens. 

July 4, 1776. Declaration of Independence adopted by the Continental Con- 
gress at Philadelphia. 

March 21, 1778. The Town of Franklin was incorporated. 

June 10, 1778. The Town of Foxboro was incorporated. 

June 15, 1780. State Constitution of Massachusetts adopted. 

December 12, 1780. A convention met at Timothy Gay's Tavern in Dedham 
to discuss the advisability of dividing the County of Suffolk and establishing a 
new county. 

February 25, 1783. The Town of Sharon was incorporated. 

July 7, 1784. Dover was incorporated as a district. 

February 6, 1788. Massachusetts ratified the Constitution of the United 
States by a convention in Boston, of which John Hancock was president. 

February 22, 1792. The Town of Ouincy was incorporated. 

April 4, 1792. A regular stage route between Dedham and Boston established, 
making trips every two hours. 

March 9, 1793. The Town of Randolph was incorporated. 

March 26, 1793. Gov. John Hancock approved the act of the General Court 
dividing the County of Suffolk and erecting the County of Norfolk. 

June 20, 1793. Norfolk County organized under the provisions of the act of 
March 26th. 

September 24, 1793. First term of the Court of Common Pleas in Norfolk 
County was held in the Dedham meeting house. The Court of General Sessions 
of the Peace met the same day. 

October 8, 1793. John Hancock died at Ouincy. 

, 1793. A postoffice was established at Dedham, with Jeremiah 

Shuttleworth as postmaster. 

April 26, 1796. First Norfolk County court-house completed. 

- . The Columbia Minerva, the first newspaper in Norfolk County, 

started at Dedham. 



484 HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 

February 23, 1797. The Town of Canton was incorporated. 

, 1802. Jason Fairbanks hanged at Connecticut Corner for the 

murder of Betsy Fales. This was the first legal execution in Norfolk County. 

December 22, 1807. President Jefferson approved the Embargo Act, prohib- 
iting American vessels from leaving port. 

June 18, 1812. Congress declared war against Great Britain. 

July 1, 1817. President James Monroe in Dedham. 

January 13, 1820. A ludicrous duel fought in Dedham between a painter 
and a barber. 

August 23, 1824. Marquis de La Fayette passed through Dedham on his way 
from Providence to Boston. 

June 17, 1825. Corner-stone of Bunker Hill Monument laid by General 
La Fayette, "the nation's guest." 

July 4, 1825. Corner-stone of Norfolk County's second court-house was laid. 

July 4, 1826. John Adams died at his home in Quincy. 

, 1826. First railroad in the United States built from the granite 

quarries at Quincy to the Neponset River, a distance of three miles. 

February 20, 1827. Norfolk County's new court-house dedicated, Chief Jus- 
tice Parker delivering the address. 

October 30, 1832. Bride's Tavern at Dedham and the stables of the Citizens 
Stage Company destroyed by fire. 

, 1833. President Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren paid 

Dedham a short visit. 

March 4, 1845. The old town cannon at Dedham — the "great gun" of King 
Philip's war — burst into fragments while firing a salute. 

February 23, 1848. John Quincy Adams died at Washington, D. C, aged 
eighty years. 

, 1849. First fair of the Norfolk Agricultural Society. Daniel 

Webster and other prominent men were present and made speeches. 

May 22, 1852. Sailors' Snug Harbor, for sick and disabled seamen, located 
at Quincy, was incorporated. 

May 16, 1855. Norfolk County Sunday School Association was organized. 

September 13, i860. Corner-stone for the additions to the Norfolk County 
court-house was laid. 

November 6, i860. Abraham Lincoln elected President of the United States. 

December 20, i860. A state convention in South Carolina passed an ordi- 
nance of secession. 

April 14, 1861. Maj. Robert Anderson evacuated Fort Sumter. 

April 15, 1861. President Lincoln issued his proclamation calling for 75,000 
men. 

April 17, 1861. The Fourth Massachusetts left for the seat of war. In 
this regiment — the first to leave the state — were three companies from Norfolk 
County. 

March 14, 1865. National Sailors' Home established at Quincy. 

April 22, 1868. The Town of Hyde Park, then a part of Norfolk County, 
was incorporated. 

September 29, 1868. Dedham Memorial Hall was dedicated. 

February 23, 1870. The Town of Norfolk was incorporated. 



HISTORY OF NORFOLK COUNTY 485 

August 18, 1871. Corner-stone of the first building of Wellesley College 
was laid. 

February 23, 1872. The Town of Norwood was incorporated. 

February 29, 1872. The Town of Holbrook was incorporated. 

July 4, 1876. Celebrations in most of the Norfolk County towns to com- 
memorate the one-hundredth anniversary of American Independence. 

November 6, 1876. Winslow Park at Norwood dedicated. 

February 18, 1879. Milton town hall was dedicated. 

February 21, 1880. The Town of Avon was incorporated. 

December 25, 1880. The Phoenix House at Dedham destroyed by fire. 

April 6, 1 88 1. The Town of Wellesley was incorporated. 

February 24, 1885. The Town of Millis was incorporated. 

May 17, 1888. Ouincy was incorporated as a city. 

April 28, 1891. Temperance Hall at Dedham — Norfolk County's first court- 
house — was destroyed by fire. 

June 20, 1895. The present Norfolk County court-house was dedicated with 
appropriate ceremonies. 

April 2, 1897. West Dedham incorporated as town under the name of 
Westwood. 

November 27, 1898. A destructive wind along the shore at Cohasset wrecked 
a number of vessels and several lives were lost. 

April 4, 1905. The southern part of Wrentham was set off as the Town 
of Plainville. 

April 6, 191 7. Congress declared war against Germany. 

May 18, 1917. President Wilson approved the act of Congress authorizing 
a draft. 

June 5, 191 7. Registration of all able-bodied males between the ages of 
twenty-one and thirty-one years for the draft. 

September 14, 191 7. Weymouth almshouse burned and one of the inmates 
perished in the flames. 



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